limWBK 

*W  /  \   * 

% 

<►        ■■%   fir         * 

\.                   ^ 

—™  M 

^1 

ISppS 

if 

y    \ 
% 

EH 

P9 

*                                                         OS? 

^ 

\ 

JLijU/ 

<y 

(P&£tys~ 

THE  WORLD'S   EPOCH-MAKERS 


EDITED    BY 

OLIPHANT  SMEATON 


Wycliffe    and 

The  Lollards 

By  J.   C.  Carrick 


Reproduced  by  permission  of  the  Clarendon  Press 
from  H.  E.  Winn's  Wyclif  Selections. 


Victorious  Sun  of  Righteousness, 

At  whose  supreme  command 
Thy    Morning    Star    flamed    forth 
afar 

O'er  England's  darkened  land, 
We  praise  Thee  for  that  man  of  fire 

Who,  called  and  sent  by  Thee, 
Flashed    through    the    night    the 
living  light 

Of  truth  and  liberty. 


We,  heirs  of  Wycliffe's  glorious  name, 

Light-bearers  fain  would  be, 
Till  Christ  shall  shine  o'er  palm  and 
pine, 

O'er  continent  and  sea. 
Mid  clouds  and  darkness  forward  go, 

Glad  heralds  of  the  Lord — 
Come  gain  or  loss,  our  pride  the  Cross, 

Our    boast,     God's     conquering 
Word. 


From  the  Wycliffe  College  Song  by  Canon  C.  Venn  Pitcher,  Toronto. 


THE   WORLD'S    EPOCH-MAKERS 

Wycliffe  and 

The  Lollards 


By 


T.   C.  Carrick 

Author  of  "  The  Abbey  of  S.  Mary,  Nervbottle ' 

"  The  Story  of  the  Burning  Bush  " 

■  The  Story  of  John  Knox  and  his  Land " 

"  S.   Cuthbert  and  S.  Cuthbert's  "  etc.  etc. 


New  York         Charles  Scribner's  Sons 
1908 


CL3 


HISTORY  f 


?-aoffi 


^ 


Dedicated  to  the 

Rev.  Professor  M.  C.  Taylor,  D.D.,  Edinburgh 

Chaplain  to  the  King 

With  the  grateful  and  affectionate  respect 
of  his  old  pupil 


250683 


PREFATORY   NOTE 


In  addition  to  Professor  Taylor,  I  cannot  refrain  from 
expressing  my  sense  of  gratitude  to  and  admiration  of 
Wycliffe's  successor  in  the  Mastership  of  Balliol,  Mr. 
Edward  Caird,  to  whom  I  owe  so  much ;  and  also  to 
the  chief  librarians  of  the  British  Museum,  the  Bodleian 
and  Lincoln  College  Libraries,  Oxford,  all  of  whom  per- 
sonally and  ungrudgingly  aided  me  in  my  researches 
among  Wycliffe  MSS.  in  London  and  Oxford ;  and  also 
to  the  late  librarians  of  the  Signet  Library,  Edin- 
burgh, Dr.  Law  and  Mr.  Edmond,  who  spared  no  pains 
to  help  me.  To  these  more  especially,  but  to  many 
others  as  well,  I  am  indebted  more  than  words  can 
tell  for  guidance,  encouragement,  and  practical  help. 

J.  C.  CARRICK. 


vii 


CONTENTS 


PART  I 


JOHN  WYCLIFFE 


I.  Reformers  before  the  Reformation 
II.  Wycliffe's  Earlt  Surroundings     . 

III.  Wycliffe's  Student  Life 

IV.  Tiara  and  Crown 

V.  Wycliffe's  Mission  to  Bruges 
VI.  Rector  of  Lutterworth 
VI T.  The  Papal  Ban  against  Wycliffe 
VIII.  The  Friars  and  the  Papacy 
IX.  Wycliffe's  Lollards,  Bible  and  Tracts 
X.  Wycliffe's  Death 
X  I.  Wycliffe  and  the  English  Bible  . 
XII.  Wycliffe's  "Poor  Preachers" 
xiii.  Wiaumt   t<::  01  . 

XIV.    THl   CHARACTF.ii    Off    Wye!!! 

ix 


1 

36 

52 

69 

94 

99 
105 
113 

132  ^ 
144 
147 
166 
177 
191 


x  CONTENTS 

PART  II 

THE  LOLLARDS 

CHAP.  PAGE 

I.  Lollardi8M  in  England         .  .  .  .199 

II.   LOLLARDISM   IN   SCOTLAND  ....      253 

III.   LOLLARDISM   ON   THE   CONTINENT  .  .  .      283 

PART  III 

RESULTS    OF    WYCLIFFE'S    TEACHING  WITHIN 

THE  ROMAN  CHURCH  .  .  .301 


WYCLIFFE  AND  THE  LOLLARDS 

PART   I 
JOHN  WYCLIFFE 

CHAPTER   I 

Reformers  before  the  Reformation 

Great  movements  do  not  come  as  a  rule  unheralded. 
Long  before  the  tempest  bursts  upon  us  in  all  its  rage 
and  fury,  the  fierce  drift  of  the  torn  clouds  and  the 
heavy  roll  and  swell  of  the  ocean  billows,  as  they 
fumble  in  shorewards,  have  given  us  notice  and 
warning.  There  are  beautiful  spring  days  in  February, 
when  the  sky  is  blue  and  clear  and  the  air  is  soft  and 
balmy, — weeks  before  the  advent  of  spring,  but  of 
which  they  are  the  earnest  and  the  promise.  As  Dean 
Alford  puts  it : 

spring  should  be  dressed  in  emblem  quaint  and  shy  ; 
A  troop  of  rosy  girls  escaped  from  bed, 
For  very  wantonness  of  play,  should  tread 
The  garden  paths ;  one  tucks  her  night-robe  high 
The  dewy  freshness  of  the  lawn  to  try; 
Some  have  been  bolder,  and  unclothed  and  bright 
The  group  is  seen  in  the  moon's  mellow  light; 
Some,  scattered,  gaze  upon  the  treefl  and  sky. 
i 


WWLIFFE  AND  THE  LOLLARDS 

But  there  should  be  that  turn  with  hurried  glance 
Beckoning  their  playmates,  where  by  a  side  path 
Between  the  shrubs,  is  seen  to  half-advance 
The  moody  widow -lodger,  who  in  wrath 
Is  sure  to  scatter  all  their  stealthy  play, 
And  they  will  rue  it  ere  the  break  of  day." 

Mr.  Swinburne's  "  Vision  of  Spring  in  Winter "  has 
the  same  foundation-idea — "the  sweet  desire  of  day 
before  the  dawn  " ;  "  the  morning-song  before  the  stars 
have  fled " :  and  nature  and  life  alike  tell  their  story 
of  early  promise,  hope  and  aspiration,  long  long  before 
the  morning  of  fulfilment  has  arrived. 

Long  before  an  invention  has  been  completed  or 
a  great  discovery  made,  there  have  been  hints  and 
premonitions  of  what  is  coming.  Job's  "war-horse" 
has  been  cited  as  the  dim  promise  of  the  steam-engine ; 
Pantagruel's  "  frozen  words  "  in  Rabelais,  of  the  phono- 
graph ;  and  the  "  roads  that  travel "  in  the  same  volume, 
of  the  "moving  platforms"  of  the  Paris  Exhibition. 
Friar  Roger  Bacon  the  physicist,  before  physics  became 
a  science,  foretold  the  day  when  carriages  would  move 
without  horses  and  ships  traverse  the  sea  without  sails. 
China  gave  its  prophecies  and  semi-fulfilments  of  many 
modern  improvements  and  inventions  in  the  infancy  of 
the  human  race. 

The  achievements  of  modern  industry  embody  the 
prophetic  imaginings  and  anticipations  of  the  "  juventus 
mundi."  Chaucer's  "horse  of  Brass,"  the  Niebelungen 
Lied's  "shoes  of  swiftness,"  Jack  the  giant-killer's 
"seven-league  boots,"  are  foreshadowings  of  the  iron 
horae,  the  railway  train  and  the  thin  iron  line  of  civili- 
sation ;  Aladdin's  ring,  by  rubbing  which  lie  could 
instantaneously  communicate  with   genii  at  the  ends 


REFORMERS  BEFORE  REFORMATION      3 

of  the  earth,  contains  in  germ  the  electric  telegraph ; 
the  "  magic  mirror,"  in  which  was  portrayed  the  faces 
and  actions  of  distant  friends,  is  the  parent-idea  of  the 
reflecting  telescope.  Science  has  realised  these  early 
dreams.  These  weird  tales  were  told  half  in  fun,  half 
in  earnest.  Hidden  beneath  their  grotesque  exterior 
were  the  sincere  anticipations  of  gifted  souls, — whose 
far-sighted  gaze  caught  the  dim  outline  of  the  future 
time. 

And  so  great  social,  political,  and  religious  move- 
ments are  generally  preceded  by  lesser  movements,  of 
feebler  energy,  but  in  the  same  general  direction.  The 
great  European  Reformation  of  the  sixteenth  century 
did  not  come  upon  Christendom  like  a  thunder-clap 
in  a  clear  sky :  there  was  many  a  premonitory  roll  of 
the  thunder,  many  a  big  raindrop  falling  and  sheet  of 
wild-fire  flashing  before  the  first  crash  of  the  storm 
fell  upon  Europe.  In  the  Early  Church  there  were 
those  who  protested  against  the  attempted  supremacy 
of  St.  Peter  and  the  Christian  community  associated 
with  his  name  and  principles.  And  long  after  the 
Roman  See  had  firmly  established  its  hold  over  Western 
Christendom  —  for  the  East  was  finally  separated 
and  distinct — there  were  within  its  borders  those  who 
protested  against  its  corruptions,  assumptions,  and 
attempted  supremacy.  Amongst  the  Reformers  before 
the  Reformation  may  be  noted  the  names  of  Aerius, 
Jovinian,  Vigilantius,  Claude  of  Turin,  Agobarct*  of 
Lyons,  Beringar  of  Tours,  Abelard,  Henry  of  Clugny, 
Arnold  of  Brescia,  Peter  Waldo,  Wycliffe,  Savonarola, 
John  Huss,  and  others.  In  one  sense  the  Franciscan 
and  Dominican  friars  were  reformers,  and  also  several 
reformed  orders  of  monks,  but  only  in  a  sense.    These 


4        WYCLIFFE  AND  THE  LOLLARDS 

others  were  all  distinct  reforming  voices  heard  inside 
the  Church  long  before  the  Reformation.  In  the  face 
of  a  strong  and  powerful  majority  each  spoke  out 
for  liberty  and  Scripture  truth,  and  the  avoidance  of 
superstition  and  human  inventions.  As  early,  indeed, 
as  the  fourth  century,  when  the  Western  Church  was 
gradually  placing  human  beliefs  and  ceremonies  upon 
the  same  level  as  Scripture  truth,  Aerius  of  Pontus 
lifted  up  his  voice  against  prayers  for  the  dead,  the 
necessity  of  fasting,  and  of  Easter  celebrations  as 
obligatory,  and  the  supremacy  of  bishops  over  pres- 
byters. Anathematised  by  the  Bishop  of  Constantia, 
he  was  still  living  in  the  year  a.d.  374,  and  may  be 
regarded  as  the  father  of  a  scriptural  reformation ;  and 
though  accused  of  being  a  heretic  and  of  having,  as 
Epiphanius  declared,  "  a  foul  air  spirit,"  all  he  fought 
for  was  adherence  to  Scripture  and  the  avoidance  of 
"  the  commandments  of  men." 

Jovinian,  a  Roman  ascetic  (circa  390),  attacked  the 
monastic  life,  which  many  declared  to  be  the  life  of 
angels,  the  superiority  of  celibacy  over  the  married 
state,  fasting,  and  righteousness  through  human  works 
as  opposed  to  Christ's  atonement  and  merits.  And  yet, 
though  a  severe  critic  of  the  much-praised  life  of  monk 
and  nun  with  all  their  asceticism  and  self -mortification, 
he  died  himself  from  the  personal  austerities  which  he 
practised. 

Vigilantius  (circa  400  A.D.),  the  son  of  an  innkeeper 
at  Calagorris  at  the  base  of  the  Pyrenees,  said  that  the 
monastic  system  consisted  in  fleeing  from  the  world 
instead  of  bravely  fighting  it,  and  that  in  shutting 
oneself  in  behind  a  cloister  wall  a  man  does  not 
necessarily  shut  out  the  world, — nay,  he  shuts  a  part 


REFORMERS  BEFORE  REFORMATION   5 

of  the  world  in  with  himself.  While  the  best  way  of 
dealing  with  temptation  may  be  "  not  fight  but  flight," 
Vigilantius  held  that  it  was  a  cowardly  thing  to  retreat 
from  the  "good  fight  of  faith"  to  which  Providence 
had  called  us.  His  other  reforming  views  were  a 
condemnation  of  relics  with  their  supposed  miraculous 
powers,  and  of  prayers  for  the  dead,  and  generally  the 
mechanical  and  superstitious  forms  and  acts  which 
were  gradually  finding  a  home  in  the  Church  of  Christ. 
There  is  a  deep  silence  of  four  hundred  years,  during 
which  few  if  any  voices  are  heard  lifted  up  against 
mechanical  and  superstitious  Christianity,  but  in  the 
first  half  of  the  eighth  century,  Claude,  bishop  of 
Turin,  rises  up  and  repeats  the  views  of  Vigilantius 
(circa  839  A.D.).  Formalism  had  during  these  four 
hundred  years  of  interval  made  broad  strides  within 
the  Church.  The  Eastern  or  Greek  Church  had 
separated  from  Rome  partly  on  the  grounds  of  opposi- 
tion to  image- worship,  although  it  still  held  to  "  icons," 
— constituting  a  distinction  almost  as  distinct  as  thj> 
Quakers'  objection  to  "  Christian  men  wearing  weapons 
and  serving  in  the  wars,"  while  at  the  same  time 
permitting  the  use  of  clubs  which  would  break  every 
bone  in  a  man's  body:  while  the  natural  jealousy 
between  the  Patriarch  of  Constantinople  and  the  chief 
Shepherd  of  Rome,  who  even  then  was  claiming  to  be 
Head  of  the  Church  as  St.  Peter's  successor  and  Vicar, 
was  responsible  for  the  bulk  of  the  quarrel  which 
divided  and  divides  Christendom  into  East  and  West. 
It  may  be  true  that  the  greatest  friend  of  Truth  is 
Time,  her  greatest  enemy  Prejudice,  and  her  constant 
companion  Humility;  but  history  does  not  throw  a 
\.  ry  happy  light  on  the  humility  of  either  the  Eastern 


6        WYCLIFFE  AND  THE  LOLLARDS 

or  the  Western  Patriarchs.  "  I  am  sick,"  cries  Gregory 
of  Nazianzen,  one  of  the  brightest  stars  of  Eastern 
Christendom — "  of  struggling  against  the  jealousies  of 
holy  bishops  who  make  harmony  impossible,  and  make 
light  of  the  interests  of  the  faith  in  the  pursuit  of 
their  own  quarrels.  For  this  reason  I  have  resolved 
(as  the  saying  is)  to  try  a  new  tack,  and  to  gather 
myself  up,  as  they  say  the  nautilus  does  when  it  feels 
the  storm :  to  gaze  from  afar  at  others  buffeted  and 
buffeting,  intent  myself  on  the  peace  of  heaven" 
(Epistle  55), — a  sentiment  almost  identical  with  that 
of  Leighton  amid  the  kindred  troubles  and  con- 
troversies of  the  seventeenth  century  in  Scotland. 

The  rapidly-growing  mechanicalism  of  the  Church 
raised  the  protest  of  one  of  the  prelates  of  the  Church 
itself,  and,  as  in  later  ages,  the  reforming  spirit  came 
from  within.  Claude  of  Turin  lifted  up  his  voice 
against  the  adoration  of  images  and  crucifixes,  which 
from  being  in  an  early  age  regarded  as  pictorial  lessons 
in  the  faith,  came  to  be  the  objects  of  worship,  the 
supposed  sources  of  miraculous  powers,  and,  in  general, 
symbolic  veils  of  and  obstructions  to  the  full  view  of 
Christ  Jesus  the  world's  Redeemer.  The  Frankish 
Church  protested  against  the  growing  practice,  now 
in  the  Roman  Church  run  to  its  full  length;  but  in 
spite  of  all  opposition  the  decision  of  the  Council  of 
Nice  of  A.D.  783,  which  allowed  "  a  relative  worship  "  to 
images  of  the  Saviour  and  the  saints,  became  the  voice 
of  Western  Christendom,  and  the  parting  of  the  ways 
for  the  Greek  Church.  An  examination  of  the  canons 
of  the  seventh  oecumenic  Synod  of  Nicsea,  with  its 
three  hundred  and  sixty-seven.  Fathers  and  twenty-two 
canons,  proves  conclusively  that  a  strong  party  existed 


REFORMERS  BEFORE  REFORMATION  7 

inside  the  united  Church  opposed  to  image-worship 
and  formalism  generally.  Besides  earnestly  inculcating 
the  singing  of  psalms  regularly,  and  simplicity  of  life 
in  the  clergy,  together  with  care  as  to  their  amusements 
and  social  life  generally,  while  requiring  the  careful 
conservation  of  relics,  the  Council  had  a  strong  minority 
opposed  to  the  veneration  of  images  and  the  mechanical 
use  of  the  crucifix.  Along  with  Claude,  Agobard, 
bishop  of  Lyons,  seems  to  have  contended  against 
image-worship,  and  in  an  almost  puritanical  spirit 
declaimed  against  artificial  Church  music  and  a 
mechanical  liturgy. 

In  the  north  of  France  in  the  early  years  of  the  same 
century  {circa   831),  Paschasius  Radbertus,  abbot   of 
Corbey,  finally  formulated  the  doctrine  of  transubstan- 
tiation,   although    Lanfranc    is    also    claimed   as   the 
Schoolman    who    put    the    latent    tendencies   of    the 
Church's  belief   into   definite   form.     The  new  dogma 
was  vigorously  assailed,  notably  by  Ratramnus,  one  of 
the  Corbey  monks,  who,  at  the  request  of  Charles  the 
Bald,  wrote  a  treatise  in  opposition  to  Radbert's  dogma. 
The  new  dogma  was,  however,  generally  accepted  by 
the     Western     Church,    although    sporadic    objectors 
appeared   for  two  centuries.     Chief  among  these  was 
Bermg&r  of  Tours  (circa  1025),  whose  belief  was,  not 
transubstantiation,  but  a  form  of  consubstantiation.     In 
addition   to  his   opposition   to  the   transubstantiation 
dogma,    Beringar     declared     against     formalism    and 
materialism,  and  appealed  to  reason  and  common  sense 
and  Scripture, — thus  constituting  himself  a  reformer 
before  the  Reformation. 

To  the   same   class,  although   in   a   milder  degree, 
belongs    Abelard,    whose    strange    life -tragedy    still 


8        WYCLIFFE  AND  THE  LOLLARDS 

commands  undying  interest.  He  was  an  intellectualist, 
and  was  before  the  Reformation  what  Erasmus  was 
after  it.  He  claimed  freedom  for  the  use  of  his  reason, 
apart  from  any  external  authority  however  supreme. 
Early  in  the  eleventh  century  he  asserted  himself  as 
an  independent  thinker;  and  though  Anselm  was  his 
teacher,  and  as  thorough  an  apologist  for  Church  dogma 
and  tradition  and  method  as  ever  lived,  his  pupil  did 
not  follow  him,  but  used  his  new  logical  methods  to 
criticise  Church  doctrine  and  discipline.  Bernard  of 
Clairvaux,  whose  long  dreary  poem  on  the  evils  of  the 
age,  extending  to  six  thousand  lines,  of  which  the  three 
well-known  hymns,  "Jerusalem  the  Golden,"  "Brief 
Life  is  here  our  Portion,"  "  The  World  is  very  evil,"  are 
almost  the  only  portions  worth  remembering, — who 
railed  against  the  vices  and  corruptions  of  his  age  in 
a  manner  worthy  of  Carlyle, — was,  strange  to  say, 
Abelard's  keenest  opponent,  and  at  the  Synod  of  Sens 
in  1140  challenged  him  to  open  debate.  The  Council 
condemned  Abelard,  and  ordered  his  imprisonment. 
Having,  however,  submitted  to  the  ecclesiastical 
authorities,  he  escaped  confinement  and  spent  the  rest 
of  his  life  as  a  scholarly  recluse.  St.  Anselm,  Abelard's 
teacher,  was  the  author  of  Cur  Deus  Homo, — a  treatise 
on  the  incarnation  and  atonement  of  Christ  which 
might  have  been  penned  by  Luther,  so  free  is  it  from 
Roman  idiosyncrasies,  and  often  quoted  to  show  the 
continuity  of  the  atonement  doctrine  even  in  the 
darkest  ages  of  superstition.  One  special  passage  is 
often  quoted  as  an  unequivocal  testimony  to  Anselm's 
belief  in  justification  by  faith  in  Christ  alone  without 
works.  And  yet  by  a  strange  irony  of  fate  the  prelate 
who  so   strongly  declared   himself   as  an  advocate  of 


REFORMERS  BEFORE  REFORMATION  9 

this  distinctively  Protestant  doctrine,  and  the  poet- 
monk  who  wailed  beside  the  wall  of  a  ruined  Zion 
over  her  abuses  and  wickedness,  were  the  two  chief 
opponents  of  the  man  who  sought,  by  a  return  to 
reason  and  simplicity,  to  restore  primitive  faith  and  a 
pure  life.  Abelard  was,  however,  a  man  more  of  the 
intellect  than  of  the  soul,  and  the  Church  was  evidently 
afraid  that  the  right  of  private  judgment  and 
individual  opinion  would  lead  to  disintegration, 
disunion,  dispeace,  and  trouble,  and  above  all  to  dis- 
obedience to  the  fiat  of  the  Vicar  of  Christ,  who  even 
then  claimed  semi-infallibility.  A  man  of  profound 
religious  faith,  he  was  misunderstood  and  misrepresented. 
He  himself  had  also  sat  at  the  feet  of  Roscelinus,  who 
opposed  the  realists  and  maintained  Nominalism,  and 
owed  his  intellectual  position  mainly  to  him.  In  turn 
he  created  quite  a  school  of  his  own,  training  indeed, 
as  Guizot  has  pointed  out,  no  less  than  one  Pope, 
nineteen  cardinals,  and  more  than  fifty  bishops,  French, 
English,  and  German,  besides  a  very  much  larger 
number  of  men  who,  like  Arnold  of  Brescia  and  others, 
continued  Abelard's  fight  for  intellectual  liberty. 

I  The  most  romantic  and  at  the  same  time  probably 
the  most  persistent  of  the  reformers  before  the  Reforma- 
tion was  notably  the  body  known  as  the  Waldenses, 
which  had  as  its  crest  a  lighted  candle  surrounded  by 
darkness,  and  the  motto  "  Lux  in  tenebris."  ( In  all 
probability  the  Waldenses  and  the  Albigenses  were  the 
same  religious  communion  with  different  names  arising 
from  their  different  geographical  locations.^  Whether 
or  not  the  "  Israel  of  the  Alps "  can  date  their  origin 
to  apostolic  days  is  a  sorely  vexed  subject,  but  Roman 
controversialists  declare  that  the  movement  began  with 


io      WYCLIFFE  AND  THE  LOLLARDS 

Peter  Waldo  (fl.  1160-1170),  and  in  all  probability  it 
was  he  who  founded  the  body  and  gave  it  his  own  name, 
although  a  strong  argument   can  be  urged  on  behalf 
of  the  derivation  of  the  name  from  the  Alpine  "  Val." 
'  It  is  in  connection   with   the  Waldenses   that'  the 
Church  of  Rome  comes  out  prominently  as  inimical  to 
popular  translations  of  Scripture ;  for  though  they  had 
no  desire  to  quarrel  with  the  Church,  and  only  objected 
to  some  of  its  abuses,  more  particularly  in  connection 
with   saints    and    relics/ the   Roman   See   vigorously 
endeavoured  to  check  Scripture  reading  and  its  con- 
sequences, with  the  result  that  the  Swiss  prisons  of  the 
fourteenth   century — the   very  period   when  Wycliffe 
and  Wycliffism  began  to  spread  and  flourish  in  England 
— could  not  contain  the  multitudes  of  prisoners,  and  new 
dungeons  had  everywhere  to  be  added/ which  wanted 
everything  save  what  was  necessary  to  cause  suffering 
to  the  captives.     In  the  caverns  of  Val  Louise,  hundreds 
were    suffocated   by   fire:    the    hillsides    and   valleys 
echoed  with  the  groans  of  those  of  whom  the  world 
was  not  worthy,  and  through  the  ages  the  Alps  were 
the  happy  hunting-ground  of  merciless  Popes  and  their 
emissaries,  until  John  Milton  cried  aloud  to  Europe  and 
to  God — "  Avenge,  0  Lord,  Thy  slaughtered  saints,"  and 
Oliver   Cromwell   gathered   his   army   to   defend   the 
remnant ;  and  since  then  the  land  has  had  rest. 
1  The  Albigenses  of  France,  or  "  Cathari "  as  they  were 
called,  were  practically  a  portion  of   the   same  family 
of  what  might  be  called  Scripture-Christians  who  were 
still  within  the   fold  of,  and   favourably  disposed  to, 
the   Church.     Their   supposed  Manichsean  origin  is  a 
fable  of  Rome.    fIn  all  probability  their  original  home 
was  in   Macedonia  and  Bulgaria,  ■  and  certainly  their 


REFORMERS  BEFORE  REFORMATION  n 

vulgar-tongue  translation  of   the  Bible  was  from  the 
Greek  text.  (In  the  twelfth  century  they  had  fairly 
settled   down   in   Southern   France,   and    made    their 
presence  felt.     Their  beliefs  as  to  Church  abuses,  relics, 
saints,  Purgatory,  prayers  for  the  dead,  the  "  perfecti," 
their  threefold  cord  of  ministry,  were  almost  identical 
with  those" of  their  Waldensian  neighbours  with  whom 
they  shared  so  many  persecutions.''    The  Cathari — the 
name  (xccOccpol)  points  to  a  Greek  and  Eastern  origin 
— held  firmly  by  the  principle  of  Scripture  being  the 
rule  of  faith  and  morals,  but  not  "  the  only  rule,"  as  in 
The  Seven  Articles  of  the  Faith  and  other  authorita- 
tive Albigensian  treatises,  the  authority  of  the  Fathers 
is  granted.    The  fundamental  principle  of  the  Reforma- 
tion was  present,  both  with  Waldensians  and  Albigenses, 
but  there  was  no  idea  of  separation  from  the  Church, 
but  only  a  desire  to  check  abuses  and  remove  supersti- 
tions.    There  is  no  doubt  whatever  that  the  Columban 
missionaries  proclaimed  the  simple  gospel  of  Iona  and 
Lindisfarne  in  the  Alpine  Valleys  early  in  the  seventh 
century,  and  the  name  of  one  of  them  survives  still  in 
the  nomenclature  of  one  Swiss  Canton, — St.  Gall, — with 
its   lofty  Scheibe,  Grisons,  and  Glarus,  the   homes  of 
perpetual  snow.     St.  Gall  left  stormy  Iona,  and  after 
travelling  all  over  Western  Europe  finally  settled  on  the 
banks   of  the   Steinach,  then  a   dense  forest  full  of 
wolves  and  bears,  and  founding  an  abbey,  civilised  and 
christianised  all  that  lofty  Alpine   district.     The  fine 
old   cathedral  of   St.  Gall  commemorates  a  Scotsman, 
and  its  library  contains  MSS.  of  priceless  value.     It  is 
curious  that  a  missionary  from  the  land  of   Wycliffe 
should  have  preached  in  the  vales  of  the  Waldenses. 
Whether    the   Val    faith  goes   back   to   the   days  of 


12      WYCLIFFE  AND  THE  LOLLARDS 

Imperial  persecution,  when  Christians  fled  to  the  hills 
to  escape  the  fate  of  their  brothers  and  sisters  in  the 
bloody  circus  on  which  St.  Peter's  in  Rome  now  stands, 
on  ground  consecrated  by  the  blood  of  countless  saints 
or  whether  to  St.  Gall  and  the  Celtic  Culdees;  or 
whether  to  Peter  Waldo  alone,  will  probably  never 
be  known,  but  a  very  distinct  apostolic  and  primitive 
testimony  has  always  come  from  the  Church  amid  the 
Alpine  snows. 

The  three  great  Vaudois  strongholds,  Val  Lucerna, 
Val  Angrogna,  and  Val  Martino  are  famous  in  the 
annals  of  the  struggle  for  civil  and  religious  liberty. 
The  Pra  del  Tor,  reached  only  from  Angrogna  by  a 
wild  and  almost  impassable  defile,  was  the  seat  of  the 
college  where  aged  pastors  instructed  candidates  for 
the  ministry,  and  in  dark  days  of  persecution  was 
made  the  refuge  of  the  sick.  "The  strength  of  the 
Hills"  was  a  well-understood  Scripture  sentence  by 
these  Alpine  confessors.  Although  the  early  Waldensian 
belief  was  that  the  body  was  the  offspring  of  Waldo, 
still  its  apostolic  origin  has  been  strenuously  claimed, 
the  argument  being  that  during  the  Imperial  persecu- 
tions of  Rome,  refugee  Christians  betook  themselves  to 
the  Alps ;  and  thus  not  only  is  the  Waldensian  Church 
claimed  to  be  the  direct  descendant  of  the  apostles,  but 
the  Roman  Church  is  thereby  branded  as  the  original 
seceder.  Certainly  the  strong  spirit  of  the  early 
Christians  has  always  for  centuries  characterised  this 
strange  people  of  the  hills  who  have  suffered  all  kinds 
of  martyrdom  and  abuse,  but  whose  burning  bush,  like 
that  of  Scotland, "  was  yet  not  consumed."  Their  chief 
divergences  from  the  ordinary  teaching  of  the  Roman 
See  were  their  rejection  of  image  and  relic  worship,  of 


REFORMERS  BEFORE  REFORMATION  13 

the  doctrine  of  Purgatory,  of  the  validity  of  sacraments 
even  though  performed  by  an  immoral  priest,  of 
making  oaths,  and,  curiously,  of  capital  punishment. 
They  had  their  "  perfecti "  or  vowed  celibates,  who 
were  considered  higher  in  spiritual  position  than  either 
the  "  virgins,"  male  and  female,  or  the  married, — a  class 
who  devoted  their  lives  to  contemplation  and  prayer, 
not  unlike  the  "men"  in  the  Highlands  of  Scotland. 
The  chief  and  outstanding  contention,  however,  of  these 
people  as  against  Rome,  was  their  Scripture  reading. 
The  whole  or  nearly  all  of  the  Old  and  New  Testaments 
was  translated  into  the  Provencal  or  Romaunt,  and 
read  by  them  daily,  privately  and  in  families.  In 
1229  the  Pope  banned  their  translation,  and  did  his 
best  to  stamp  it  out  as  the  source  of  all  their  heresies ; 
but  these  simple  people  hid  the  word  in  their  heart, 
where  no  pontiff  could  reach  it  and  no  spoiler  take  it 
out ;  and  societies  were  formed  of  young  persons  who 
each  took  a  verse  to  remember  perpetually.  When  it 
is  remembered  that  the  monks  calculated  that  a  fair 
copy  of  the  Bible  was  for  them — with  all  their  literary 
and  artistic  appliances — a  year's  labour,  and  quick  work 
at  that,  it  seems  a  marvel  how  a  comparatively  un- 
lettered Alpine  tribe  should  have  succeeded  in  trans- 
lating and  disseminating  the  Bible  so  widely  as  they 
did. 

The  severities  used  by  the  Holy  See  against 
Waldenses  and  Albigenses  alike  are  matters  of  surest 
history,  and  indeed  Innocent  in.  preached  a  crusade 
against  them,  and  exhorted  the  crusaders  to  use  more 
rigour  towards  them  than  towards  the  Saracens 
themselves.  A  full  indulgence  and  exemption  from 
Purgatory  were  additional  attractions  to  crusaders  to 


14      WYCLIFFE  AND  THE  LOLLARDS 

join  the  ranks  of  the  persecutor.  Much  of  this  has 
been  denied  by  modern  Roman  controversialists,  but 
apart  altogether  from  facts  and  historical  incidents 
there  can  be  no  mistake  as  to  what  Cardinal 
Bellarmine  (De  Laicis,  iii.  22)  teaches — 

"Heretics  are  to  be  destroyed  root  and  branch,  if 
that  can  possibly  be  done.  But  if  Catholics  are  so 
few  that  they  cannot  conveniently,  with  safely, 
attempt  such  a  thing,  then  it  is  best  to  be  quiet,  lest, 
upon  opposition  made  by  the  heretics,  the  Catholics 
should  be  worsted." 

Paul  v.  issued  the  infamous  Bull,  In  Coend  Domini, 
the  first  article  of  which  anathematises  heretics  of  all 
sorts,  and  all  who  favour  them  or  read  their  books 
without  permission.  Bellarmine  proves,  at  great 
length,  the  propriety  of  putting  heretics  to  death ; 
while  another  canonist,  Van  Espen,  whose  authority 
stands  among  the  very  highest  in  the  Church  of 
Rome,  says,  in  his  observations  on  the  canons  of  the 
Fourth  Lateran  Council :  "  Formerly,  indeed,  heretics 
were  very  rarely  punished  with  death,  and  Augustine 
disavowed  in  his  time  that  this  punishment  was 
decreed  against  heretics.  But  in  later  years  it  every- 
where prevailed  that  obstinate  heretics  were  to  be 
punished  with  death,  nay !  and  to  be  burned  alive  by 
fire;  which  kind  of  punishment  signally  began  in 
the  twelfth  and  thirteenth  centuries ;  and,  afterwards, 
it  more  and  more  prevailed  when  the  Inquisition  was 
established,  in  which,  to  this  day,  this  rigour  of 
punishment  is  still  retained." 

Other  Roman  doctors  declare  that  "  heretics  are  like 
weeds:  they  are  quickly  to  be  plucked  up — they  are 
quickly  to  be   burned."     Heretics  can  be  condemned 


REFORMERS  BEFORE  REFORMATION  15 

by  the  Church  to  temporal  punishments,  and  even 
be  punished  with  death."  "Heretics  may  be  justly 
excommunicated,  and  therefore  may  be  put  to  death." 
(  Notwithstanding  much  persecution,  however,  the 
reforming  movements  represented  by  the  Albigenses 
and  Waldenses  spread  rapidly  over  Europe  during 
the  thirteenth  and  fourteenth  centuries,  and  the 
vigour  of  their  growth  was  stimulated  by  the  per- 
secuting attitude  and  action  of  the  Roman  Church. ; 
These  persecutions  were  deplored  by  multitudes 
within  the  Church,  whose  hearts  bled  to  see  the 
Alpine  snows  reddened  and  the  fair  fields  of  Southern 
France  soaked  with  faithful  blood.  Wurtz's  pictures 
in  the  Brussels  gallery  are  tame  in  comparison  with 
the  real  scenes  which  took  place  among  families  and 
communities  suspected  of  heresy.  But,  like  the 
flowers  of  their  own  rocks  and  fields,  they  were  made 
hardy  by  storms ;  dangers  only  increased  their  energy ; 
and  as  the  winds  bear  the  fragrance  of  flowers  far 
away,  so  the  hurricanes  of  persecution  propagated  the 
faith  and  spread  reforming  ideas  abroad.  The 
Beghards  and  the  Beguines,  the  Brethren  of  the  Free 
Spirit,  and  many  other  kindred  communities,  spread 
their  ideas  and  handed  on  the  torch  of  apostolic 
faith.  The  decision  of  the  Fourth  Lateran  Council  of 
1215  to  stamp  out  such  divergences  of  opinion  only 
hastened  on  the  reforming  movements,  and  hurt  the 
Church's  credit  with  the  mass  of  humane  people,  who 
daily  felt  their  sympathy  with  the  persecutor  waning. 
Farther,  the  rapid  increase  of  new  doctrines,  rules, 
and  riles  within  the  Church — developments  according 
to  J.  II.  Newman — made  vast  masses  of  people  all 
over  Europe  quiescent  Protestants,  believing  as  they 


16      WYCLIFFE  AND  THE  LOLLARDS 

did  that  the  triumphant  and  increasing  mechanicalism 
of  the  Church  meant  death  to  true  spiritual  religion. 
That  their  opinion  was  correct  has  been  proved  up 
to  the  hilt  by  the  development  of  Roman  dogma 
since  the  Reformation,  in  spite  of  many  improvements 
in  other  ways,  and  a  vastly  increased  activity  in  the 
Roman  organisation  and  an  enviable  distinction  for 
missionary  inspiration  and  success.  So  calm  and 
forbearing  an  authority  as  the  late  Dr.  Littledale, 
who  was  far  from  being  an  ultra- Protestant,  sums  up 
very  succinctly  the  net  result  of  these  mechanical 
forces,  against  which  the  long  succession  of  reformers 
before  and  after  "the  great  Rebellion"  protested 
either  quietly  or  with  trumpet-sound. 

"One  peculiarity  of  popular  Romanism  is,  that  it 
is  fast  ceasing  to  be  a  faith,  and  is  degenerating  into 
a  mere  superstition.  This  word  does  not  mean,  as 
people  commonly  fancy,  over-readiness  to  swallow 
marvels.  That  is  credulity,  about  which  we  are  not 
now  concerned.  But  "  superstition  "  means  that  form 
of  religion  in  which  fear  is  stronger  than  love  and 
trust.  Its  leading  characteristic  is  the  belief  that 
the  powers  above  man  are  unfriendly,  jealous,  and 
vindictive,  or  at  best  stern  and  relentless ;  and  that 
they  must  be  baffled  by  mechanical  amulets  and 
magical  charms,  or  bought  off  by  being  gratified  with 
the  sight  of  those  sufferings  which  they  delight  to 
inflict.  That  is  the  sentiment  which  is  at  the  root  of 
African  Fetishism  and  of  Hindoo  Fakirism  alike. 
And  now  it  has  got  almost  entire  possession  of 
Romanism.  Already  it  has  been  shown  how  the 
Father  and  Christ  are  avoided  and  shrunk  from  as 
stern  and  pitiless  judges,  and  Mary  turned  to  as  the 


REFORMERS  BEFORE  REFORMATION  17 

one  merciful  hope  of  sinners;  and  also  how  God  is 
supposed  to  pursue  with  hideous  tortures  the  souls  of 
even  the  holy  dead.  These  ghastly  distortions  of 
Christianity  are  not  to  be  found  in  the  Missal  at  all, 
and  scarcely  a  trace  of  them  in  the  Breviary,  but  they 
form  a  very  large  part,  often  the  larger  part,  of  the 
popular  creed  in  Roman  Catholic  countries  now." 

"Modern  Romanism  has  this  in  common  with 
atheistic  secularism,  that  they  are  both  impatient  of 
the  unseen  and  spiritual,  and  crave  after  the  visible 
and  material.  Hence  Romans  must  have  human 
objects  of  worship  instead  of  God,  and  must  have 
images  of  even  these ;  must  have  amulets  instead  of 
belief  in  providence ;  must  have  a  regular  tally 
account  with  heaven  instead  of  trust  in  God's  love, 
mercy,  and  justice.  All  this  not  only  is  not  faith, 
but  directly  contradicts  faith,  which  is  'the  evidence 
of  things  not  seen'  (Heb.  xi.  1)." 

( To  a  very  considerable  extent  the  rise  of  the 
Dominican  and  Franciscan  orders  was  a  struggle 
after  a  freer  and  less  mechanical  religion  than 
mediaeval  Rome  allowed  to  her  children.  Over  and 
over  again  the  rise  of  various  monastic  orders  was  a 
reform  movement  within  the  Church  itself, — such 
orders     as     the     white- robed     Cistercians,     and     the 

Bernardines,  both  offshoots  of  the  Benedictines,  as 
well  as  the  fresh  orders  of  the  Carthusians  and 
Carmelites,  all  of  which  arose  as  reform  movements 
towards  the  close  of  the  eleventh  and  the  commence- 
ment of  the  twelfth  centuries.  *  It  was  a  case  of  the 
old  tree  asserting  its  inner  life  in  fresh  expressions  of 

faith,  life,  worship  and  service,  and  new  developments 

of  spiritual  energy.     In  1215  so  many  such  reforming 


iS      WYCLIFFE  AND  THE  LOLLARDS 

orders  had  arisen,  that  the  Pope,  Innocent  in.,  fearing 
so  many  diversities  of  practices,  forbade  any  more 
orders  to  be  created. 

The  expression  of  the  Church's  inner  spiritual  life 
could  not,  however,  be  kept  in,  and  a  new  set  of 
orders  came  into  being, — not  monastic  at  all,  but  free 
and  untrammelled,  living  on  the  charity  of  the 
people,  possessed  of  no  worldly  goods,  dwelling  in 
the  midst  of  the  world  and  in  the  very  thick  of  its 
life,  which  they  shared  and  moulded,  taking  no 
thought  for  the  morrow,  observing  rules  of  even 
stricter  personal  piety  and  self-denial  than  the 
monastic  orders,  and  bound  by  the  most  solemn  vows 
which  human  beings  could  take  upon  them,  to  plant 
Christian  truth  and  destroy  error,  to  evangelise  the 
neglected  masses  in  towns  and  cities,  and  generally 
to  revive  in  the  world  the  apostolic  life. 

The  Dominicans — the  disciples  of  that  fiery  burn- 
ing spirit  which  first  saw  light  in  Spain  in  1170,  and 
which  spent  itself  in  severe  toils  for  the  Faith — were 
pre-eminently  the  defenders  of  that  Faith  and  the 
watch-dogs  of  the  Holy  See,  seeking  out  and  uprooting 
heresy,  so  sedulously  indeed  that  the  memory  of  their 
later  Inquisitions  is  indelibly  stained  in  scarlet  in  the 
world's  heart.  The  Franciscans — the  followers  of 
that  wonderful  mystic  and  spiritual  enthusiast  St. 
Francis  of  Assisi,  who  was  born  there,  the  son  of  a 
dealer,  in  1182 — made  their  life-aim  to  give  a  living 
manifestation  to  the  world  of  Christ's  poor  and 
suffering  life  on  earth  as  a  rebuke  to  its  pomps 
and  vanities,  and  so  they  acted  the  part  of  gentle, 
humble  missionaries  of  the  Cross  in  spreading  abroad 
the   knowledge   of   the    Thorn-crowned    Cross-bearer. 


REFORMERS  BEFORE  REFORMATION  19 

Both  orders  in  their  early  career  were  an  invigoration 
to  the  spiritual  life  of  Europe,  and  were  very  popular, 
reaching,  as  they  did,  through  the  freedom  of  their 
rule  of  life,  the  masses  of  the  people,  and  influencing 
the  neglected  communities  in  town  and  country  in  a 
way  which  neither  the  regular  clergy  nor  the  monks 
could  accomplish, — a  success  which  eventually  raised 
the  bitter  jealousy  of  both  of  these. 
'  They  were  absolutely  independent  of  bishops  and 
clergy,  and  were  the  Pope's  direct  servants  and 
missionaries,  whose  throne  and  claims  they  defended 
in  the  most  exclusive  and  arbitrary  manner.  Their 
very  success  was  the  secret  of  their  future  decay: 
becoming  wealthy  as  corporations,  they  at  last 
became  more  corrupt  even  than  the  monastic  orders, 
and  a  scandal  to  Christendom.  >  By  his  Bull  of  1279, 
"  Exiit  qui  seminat,"  Pope  Nicholas  in.  enforced  on 
the  Franciscans  absolute  poverty;  but  having  been 
inserted  by  Boniface  vin.  in  the  sixth  book  of  his 
Decretals,  and  thus  made  the  established  law  of  the 
Church,  it  gradually  was  interpreted  to  mean — "a 
moderate  use  of  this  world's  goods."  When  this 
reading  of  the  decretal  became  general  and  was  acted 
on,  the  Franciscan  order  became  at  once  divided  into 
two  camps, — the  free-and-easy  party,  who  were 
content  with  a  moderate  or  inmoderate  use  of  wealth 
and  goods ;  and  the  ascetic,  strict,  and  almost  hermit- 
like party,  who  insisted  on  absolute  poverty  as  the 
first  element  of  a  Franciscan  friar's  life. 

Thus  the  original  Franciscan  reformation  again 
itself  required  to  be  reformed,  and  the  spiritual  men 
of  the  order  raised  the  cry — "Back  to  evangelical 
poverty  if  our  strength  and  usefulness  are  to  remain 


20      WYCLIFFE  AND  THE  LOLLARDS 

with  us."  Peter  Johannis  Olivi,  who  died  in  1298,  was 
the  leader  of  this  stricter  school  of  Franciscan  friars, 
many  of  whom  had  adopted  the  hermit-rule  of  the 
order  of  hermits  founded  by  Pope  Celestine  v. — an 
order  which,  though  suppressed  by  Pope  Boniface, 
infused  its  spirit  of  evangelical  poverty  into  the 
Franciscans.  The  Popes  looked  with  little  favour 
upon  men  who  by  their  ascetic,  spiritual  life  were 
a  living  reproof  to  the  Papal  Court  with  its  worldly 
pomp,  licentious  and  prodigal  life,  easy-going  faith, 
and  dimmed  vision  of  heaven.  Olivi's  opinions  were 
condemned  to  a  great  extent  by  the  Council  of  Vienne 
in  1311,  and  Pope  Clement's  easy-going  interpretation 
as  to  the  property  and  use  of  the  Franciscan  wealth 
was  reasserted.  John  xxn.  still  further  oppressed 
the  spiritual  Franciscans,  and  the  Dominicans  helped 
him,  and  brought  their  Inquisition  into  action  in 
various  districts  of  France,  being  backed  up  by  the 
worldly  branch  of  the  Franciscans  as  well,  headed 
by  the  general  Michael  of  Cesena.  The  spirituals 
declared  that  there  were  two  Churches — one  carnal 
and  worldly,  of  which  the  Pope  and  his  cardinals  were 
the  head;  and  the  other  spiritual  and  evangelical, 
which  they,  the  extreme  Franciscan  friars  and  others 
leading  a  similar  life,  represented.  Thus  within  the 
one  order  of  St.  Francis  there  continued  to  live 
together  under  one  government  two  distinct  and 
clearly-marked  parties,  the  strict  and  the  moderate, 
and  these  during  the  latter  half  of  the  fourteenth 
century  were  called  respectively  "Observants"  and 
"  Conventuals." 

The  Observants  were  condemned  on  23rd  January 
1316    by   the    Bull    "  Gloriosam   Ecclesiam,"   and    in 


REFORMERS  BEFORE  REFORMATION     21 

1321  a  fresh  turn  was  given  to  the  Franciscan  con- 
troversy by  the  raising  of  a  question  of  Christian 
doctrine — quite  a  new  and  distinct  controversy  from 
the  former  one  with  the  spirituals — as  to  whether 
Christ  and  the  apostles  ever  held  property  of  any 
kind.  The  question  previously  agitated  between 
Conventuals  and  Observants  was  whether  the  Friars 
minor  or  Franciscans  ought  to  have  and  use  wealth 
and  property;  the  new  question,  which  made  a  new 
and  fresh  cleavage  in  the  order,  was  this  definite 
theological  thesis.  Some  declared  that  the  Nazarene 
Carpenter,  whose  throne  was  built  by  Galilaean 
fishermen,  had  nothing,  and  that  His  apostles  left 
all  and  followed  Him:  therefore,  they  concluded, 
evangelical  poverty  must  be  the  law  of  the  Church. 
At  Perugia  the  whole  Franciscan  order  assembled  in 
1322,  and  the  dogma  of  evangelical  poverty  was 
formally  accepted,  the  general  Michael  Cesena  adher- 
ing to  this  doctrinal  declaration  as  formerly  he  had 
opposed  its  practical  application  to  the  members  of 
the  order.  Seeing  the  Franciscans  so  united  as  to 
this  doctrine,  the  Pope  accused  them  of  heresy,  and 
the  University  of  Paris  and  the  Dominicans  supported 
the  Holy  See. 

The  Franciscans,  however,  remained  firm,  aided  by 
William  of  Ockham,  the  great  English  Schoolman. 
The  Pope,  however,  asserted  that  "use"  and  "pro- 
prietorship" were  inseparable,  and  annulled  Nicholas 
m.'s  Bull.  After  accusing  the  Pope  of  heresy,  the 
Franciscans  at  last  expressed  their  allegiance  to  the 
Pope,  except  the  Fraticelli,  who  threw  in  their  lot, 
along  with  other  Franciscans,  with  Lewis  of  Bavaria, 
the  German  King,  and  strove  for  a  freer  and  a  better 


22      WYCLIFFE  AND  THE  LOLLARDS 

life.  Lewis  had  in  1324  been  excommunicated  by 
the  Pope,  but  the  German  people  remained  true  to 
their  King,  and  accordingly  an  expedition  was  formed 
to  Rome,  and  Lewis  was  crowned  by  two  ex- 
communicated bishops.  Lewis'  chief  friend  in  these 
negotiations  was  Marsiglio  dei  Raimondini,  a  teacher 
in  the  University  of  Paris,  and  he  and  his  Franciscan 
allies  pressed  Lewis  forward  in  his  attack  on  John 
xxii.  At  the  same  time,  an  Anti-pope,  Friar  Peter  of 
Corvare,  was  chosen,  and  Marsiglio  was  made  Papal- 
vicar  of  Rome.  But  Lewis  could  not  continue  and 
his  enterprise  collapsed,  he  himself  retiring  to  Pisa 
along  with  William  of  Ockham  and  Michael  of 
Cesena.  The  Anti-pope  submitted  in  1330,  and  Lewis 
was  in  Bavaria  in  the  spring  of  the  year  a  defeated 
man.  Lewis  was  excommunicated;  and  though  he 
often  made  offers  of  humiliation  and  obedience,  he 
remained  excommunicated  by  Pope  Clement  VI.  until 
his  death  in  1347. 

Lewis'  two  helpers  were  the  two  masters  of  Paris, 
Marsiglio  of  Padua  and  William  Ockham,  and  their 
writings  show  the  trend  of  liberal  thought  in  the 
Church.  The  "Defensor  Pacis,"  written  by  Marsiglio 
while  at  the  University  of  Paris,  in  1324,  arrived  at  a 
peace  between  the  spiritual  and  the  civil  powers. 
Dante,  in  his  De  Monarchia  a  few  years  later, 
sought  to  obtain  universal  peace  by  making  a  universal 
State  under  one  ruler.  Marsiglio  sought  to  make 
peace  by  having  a  temporal  and  spiritual  estate  clearly 
defined, — the  King  and  the  spiritual  ruler  having 
their  distinct  functions  and  spheres.  Marsiglio  defined 
the  Church  as  the  whole  body  of  Christian  men,  laymen 
and    clerks    alike, — "  the   whole    community    of    the 


REFORMERS  BEFORE  REFORMATION  23 

Faithful."  Religious  toleration  was  part  of  his 
principle,  and  temporal  pains  and  penalties  do  not 
belong  to  the  gospel.  Heresy  is  to  be  punished  in 
the  world  to  come,  not  in  this. 

"  Bishop "  and  "  priest,"  according  to  Marsiglio,  are 
synonymous,  and  the  office  of  the  Pope  is  a  historical 
one,  arising  out  of  the  position  of  Rome  as  capital  of 
the  Empire.  The  supreme  power  of  the  Church  is  in 
the  Church  itself,  and  the  Pope  has  no  power  of  supreme 
judgment  in  either  spiritual  or  temporal  things. 
Excommunication  is  the  right  of  the  community  of 
Christians  alone,  not  of  the  Pope.  The  sole  power  and 
privilege  of  the  clergy  is  in  their  spiritual  character, 
and  temporal  power  is  theirs  only  in  as  much  as  they 
deserve  to  wield  it.  Marsiglio  was  an  ally  of  the 
Fraticelli,  and  declared  that  the  ministers  of  the  Church 
should  be  supported  by  the  people,  but  no  priest  is 
entitled  to  tithes ;  and  if  he  requires  more  than  is  given 
him,  he  should,  like  the  apostles,  support  himself  with 
the  work  of  his  own  hands.  The  clergy  are  a  spiritual 
order,  and  "  evangelical  poverty  "  is  a  mark  of  their 
office.  William  of  Ockham,  a  Franciscan  friar  born  in 
England,  but  who  spent  most  of  his  life  on  the 
Continent,  was  the  other  speculative  intellect  who 
united  with  Marsiglio  in  the  reforming  work.  *  He 
denied  that  the  Pope  was  a  spiritual  autocrat,  and 
indeed  asserted  that  in  some  respects  the  Emperor — 
the  State — was  his  judge.  Popes  are  fallible,  he 
declared,  and  so  are  general  councils,  and  the  assembly 
of  the  faithful  should  be  constituted  both  of  clergy 
and  laity,  men  and  women.  He  seems  to  go  to 
Scripture  as  his  final  authority;  but  the  Pope  is  the 
exponent  of  the  whole  Church,  though  appeal  is  always 


24      WYCLIFFE  AND  THE  LOLLARDS 

open  to  the  Church,  the  whole  society  of  Christian 
believers.  Marsiglio  is  certain  as  to  this  final  arbiter, 
while  Ockham  hesitates. 

f  William  of  Ockham  was  a  thorough  scholasticist,  and 
was  the  real  father  of  Wycliffe.  He  advocated  an  im- 
mediate return  to  evangelical  poverty,  and  both  he  and 
Marsiglio  were  in  essence  Socialists.  When  Gregory  XL, 
in  taking  his  first  cognisance  of  the  views  of  John 
Wycliffe,  declared  that  they  contained  the  doctrine  of 
"Defensor  Pads,"  "  doctrinam  indoctam  damnatae 
memorise  Marsilii  de  Padua,"  he  only  stated  what  was 
the  fact,  that  Marsiglio  de  Padua,  along  with  John  of 
Jandun  his  collaborateur,  and  William  of  Ockham,  were 
the  orginators  of  that  doctrine  which  found  its  expression 
in  Wycliffe,  and  finally  its  triumphant  assertion  in  the 
Reformation  of  Europe.  ' 

Previous  to  Wycliffe's  reforming  movement,  there 
had  been  in  England  several  strong  efforts,  both  civil 
and  religious,  in  the  same  direction.  From  the  hour 
that  King  John  made  over  England  as  the  property  of 
the  Pope,  the  national  spirit — of  nobles  and  people 
alike — became  changed.  In  Magna  Charta,  which  laid 
down  a  clear  statement  of  the  liberty  of  the  nation 
and  of  the  subject,  the  papal  claim  to  England  is 
ignored :  and  King  John  himself  in  his  letter  to  the 
Pope  declares  that  the  revolt  of  the  earls  and  barons 
was  caused  by  his  own  act  of  submission  to  the  Holy 
See.  From  the  start  of  the  thirteenth  century,  besides, 
the  Saxon  element  in  the  nation  began  to  assert 
itself  as  against  the  Norman  influence,  and  English 
national  feeling  became  every  day  more  consolidated. 
In  1231  there  was  even  a  secret  alliance  between 
nobles  and  priests  which  demanded  that  the  chapters 


REFORMERS  BEFORE  REFORMATION  25 

of  cathedrals  and  abbeys  should  refuse  to  pay  taxes 
to  Rome.  Not  only  priests,  but  a  prelate,  even  a 
cardinal — the  papal  legate  Otho,  were  menaced  for 
doing  so.  It  was  in  1240  that  Cardinal  Otho  had  to 
face  an  insurrection  of  Oxford  students  who  evinced 
strong  feeling  against  Roman  imposts;  while  in  a 
letter  to  Gregory  ix.  the  nobles  protested  against  the 
violation  of  their  rights  of  ecclesiastical  patronage, 
and  prelates  at  various  times  complained  to  papal 
legates,  and  even  directly  to  the  Pope,  against  the 
usurpations  and  oppressions  of  the  Holy  See. 

Of  those  who,  inside  the  Church,  made  this  anti- 
papal  stand,  Robert  Grossetete,  bishop  of  Lincoln,  was 
one  of  the  most  outstanding.  Wycliffe  reverenced 
his  name,  not  only  as  a  scholar  "  who  was  in  possession 
of  all  the  sciences,"  as  a  saint  who  never  took  a  step 
save  after  an  arduous  wrestle  with  his  conscience,  but 
as  a  patriot  who  desired  England's  well-being  and 
peace.  He  introduced  many  measures  of  reform, — 
the  better  observance  of  Sundays,  holy  days  and 
festivals,  personal  visitation  of  monasteries,  and  the 
improvement  of  cathedral  Chapters.  His  whole  life 
was  a  series  of  conflicts  with  wrong-doing  and  wrong- 
doers, and  his  great  aim  was  to  preserve  in  all  things 
a  good  conscience.  He  preached  regularly  in  his 
diocesan  visitations  to  the  clergy,  and  urged  them  to  do 
the  same  to  their  parishioners.  He  earnestly  laboured 
for  the  moral  and  religious  elevation  of  the  pastoral 
office,  and  exercised  much  discrimination  in  selecting 
and  preparing  them  for  the  holy  ministry. 

He  favoured  the  friars,  who  were  then  filled  with 
the  zeal  and  enthusiasm  of  a  first  love,  and  often 
declared  that  the  glory  of  God  and  the   salvation  of 


26      WYCLIFFE  AND  THE  LOLLARDS 

souls  was  the  great  end  which  the  ministry,  whether 
parochial  or  mendicant,  ought  to  have  in  view. 

In  a  personal  audience  he  submitted  to  the  Pope  at 
Lyons  a  Memorial  regarding  the  appropriation  of 
Church  lands  by  monasteries,  knightly  orders,  and 
others,  thus  impoverishing  the  local  livings  of  the 
clergy,  with  the  result  that  in  many  cases  priests  were 
unable  financially  to  reside  amongst  their  people,  the 
charge  being  attended  to  by  some  outsider,  priest  or 
monk,  commissioned  and  paid  by  monastery  or  knight 
commander.  Through  his  influence  all  such  appoint- 
ments were  declared  null  and  void.  By  a  system  of 
exemptions,  however,  obtained  directly  from  the  corrupt 
Court  at  Rome,  the  reform  did  not  come  off"  to  any 
considerable  extent.  Though  well-stricken  in  years, 
Grossetete,  not  to  be  outwitted,  hastened  to  Lyons, 
where  Innocent  in.  was  still  residing  in  1250,  and, 
though  coolly  received,  pressed  his  reforms.  This 
appeal  to  the  head  of  the  Church  is  a  frank  statement 
of  what  the  Lincoln  prelate  believed  to  be  the  causes 
of  the  Church's  decadence, — evil-living  priests  who  do 
not  preach  the  gospel,  pride  and  avarice  in  Churchmen, 
and  a  poor  example  set  generally  by  those  in  authority. 
The  root-cause  of  all  these  evils  lies,  said  the  intrepid 
bishop,  in  the  Curia  itself.  "He  who  commits  the 
care  of  a  flock  to  a  man  in  order  that  the  latter  may 
get  the  milk  and  wool  while  he  is  unable  or  unwilling 
to  guide,  to  feed  and  protect  the  flock,  such  an  one 
gives  over  the  flock  itself  to  death  as  a  prey."  The 
making  over  of  parish  churches  to  monasteries  and 
other  bodies,  he  insisted,  could  only  result  in  the 
neglect  of  the  flock ;  for  "  the  cure  of  souls  consists  not 
only  in  the  dispensation  of  the  sacraments,  in  singing 


REFORMERS  BEFORE  REFORMATION  27 

of  '  hours '  and  reading  of  Masses,  but  in  the  true 
teaching  of  the  word  of  life,  in  rebuking  and  correcting 
vice ;  and  besides  all  this,  in  feeding  the  hungry,  giving 
drink  to  the  thirsty,  clothing  the  naked,  lodging  the 
strangers,  visiting  the  sick  and  the  prisoners, — especially 
among  the  parish  priest's  own  parishioners, — in  order, 
by  such  deeds  of  charity,  to  instruct  the  people  in  the 
holy  exercises  of  active  life :  and  to  do  such  deeds  is 
not  at  all  in  the  power  of  these  middlemen,  for  they 
get  so  small  a  portion  of  the  Church's  goods  that  they 
have  scarcely  enough  to  live  upon." 

This  plain  speaking  was  by  no  means  acceptable  at 
the  papal  Court,  and  Grossetete  was  so  downcast  at 
the  result  of  his  advocacy  of  reform  that  he  meditated 
resigning  his  See.  But  reviving,  he  recommenced  his 
practical  episcopate,  endeavouring  to  revive  religious 
life  in  the  priesthood  and  the  people  of  his  diocese. 

In  1252,  he,  after  frequently  addressing  Parliament, 
addressed  a  letter  to  the  nobility  and  people  of 
England,  complaining  of  the  encroachments  of  the 
Roman  Curia,  which  resulted  in  the  land  being  drained 
of  its  wealth.  The  very  year  of  his  death  witnessed 
him  engaged  in  a  direct  conflict  with  the  Pope  on 
this  very  subject.  Innocent  iv.  gave  his  grandson, 
Frederick  of  Lavagna,  a  canonry  in  Lincoln  Cathedral. 
Instantly  Grossetete  resented  the  intrusion  of  a 
foreigner  into  an  English  cathedral  Chapter,  even 
though  a  nephew  of  Christ's  Vicar.  The  Pope  in 
making  the  appointment  had  ignored  the  bishop  and 
addressed  the  Dean  and  Magister  Innocent,  the  papal 
agent  in  England;  accordingly  Grossetete  addressed 
them  and  not  the  Pope,  and  declared  the  appointment 
to  be  a  sin  against  God.     The  installation  was  delayed  : 


28      WYCLIFFE  AND  THE  LOLLARDS 

Pope  Innocent  was  in  a  frenzy  of  passion ;  but  the 
cardinals  rather  favoured  Grossetete,  declaring  that  he 
was  in  the  right,  and  was,  besides,  a  man  of  such 
personal  piety  and  weight  that  opposition  might  be 
dangerous.  Matthew  Paris  in  his  History  of  Great 
Britain  gives  a  glowing  account  of  the  panegyrics 
which  were  spoken  on  Grossetete  by  the  cardinals. 
He  was  annoyed  no  more,  and  remained  at  Lincoln  till 
his  death,  shepherding  the  priests  and  the  people  with 
anxious  care.  He  died  on  9th  October  1253,  and  was 
buried  in  his  beautiful  minster,  with  its  three  great 
majestic  towers  rising  above  him  as  guardian  angels. 
It  was  even  said  that  on  the  night  he  died  strange 
beautiful  music  was  heard  being  wafted  across  the 
sweet  fen  lands  with  their  autumn  tints  and  soft- 
flowing  streams.  Fifty  years  after  his  death,  so 
reverenced  was  his  memory,  that  a  proposal  was 
made  for  his  canonisation  by  the  King,  the  University 
of  Oxford,  and  the  Chapter  of  St.  Paul's ;  but  Grossetete 
had  been  too  frank  and  free  in  his  addresses  to  the 
Vicar  of  Christ  to  be  thus  honoured.  All  England, 
however,  regarded  him  as  a  saint,  and  no  one  reverenced 
his  saintly  character  and  zeal  for  the  gospel  more 
than  Wycliffe.  The  common  people  spoke  of  him  as 
"  St.  Robert,"  and  his  influence  as  a  reforming  force 
inside  the  Church  never  really  died  out.  At  the 
Council  of  Constance  in  1415,  which  ordered  Wycliffe's 
body  to  be  exhumed  and  burned,  Henry  Abendon, 
the  Oxford  divine,  referred  to  him  often  as  a  great 
Christian  force  in  England.  From  the  cloisters  of 
Lincoln  Cathedral,  overlooking  the  flat  rich  lands 
watered  by  the  Trent,  the  Witham,  the  Welland,  and 
the  Ancholme,  came  forth  an  influence  which  purified 


REFORMERS  BEFORE  REFORMATION  29 

and  ennobled  all  the  diocese,  and  was  wafted  like  a 
sweet  incense  over  England,  to  its  spiritual  refreshment 
and  growth  in  grace, — an  influence  which,  as  at 
Bedford  with  Bunyan,  is  still  felt,  and  has  drawn  forth 
into  the  fulness  of  life  many  great  and  saintly  bishops 
and  scholars,  none  more  so  than  Bishop  Wordsworth 
and  Bishop  King,  whose  scholarship,  devotion,  and 
piety  have  kept  up  the  old  tradition,  while  the  latter 's 
noble  and  intrepid  stand  for  spiritual  independence 
raised  him  to  a  great  position  in  the  estimation  of 
all  who  have  a  respect  for  Christian  consistency 
and  courage.  Even  in  old  age  the  flourish  is  there 
still. 

Henry  Bracton,  the  first  English  lawyer  in  the 
Middle  Ages,  was  another  reforming  spirit  in  England 
who  sought  to  define  the  rights  of  the  Church,  more 
especially  in  the  matter  of  patronage.  Grossetete  had 
only  been  dead  a  few  years,  when  questions  arose  be- 
tween the  barons  and  the  Church  as  to  property, 
patronage,  and  ministry.  The  Pope  professed  to  be 
the  head  of  the  Scottish  Church,  and  declined  to  allow 
Edward  1.  to  interfere  with  his  rights  there.  In  1301 
the  English  nobles  replied  to  Boniface  vni.  that  the 
kingdom  of  Scotland  was  not  a  fief  of  the  Pope  but 
of  the  English  Crown,  and  declined  to  allow  the  Pope 
to  intervene  in  the  struggle  between  England  and 
Scotland.  Edward  addressed  a  long  letter  to  Boniface 
claiming  the  Scottish  crown,  and  refusing  and  protest- 
ing against  the  Pope's  power  to  interfere.  In  all  these 
struggles  against  the  presumption  and  pretensions  of 
1  he  Roman  Curia,  Henry  Bracton  had  a  large  place,  and 
served  the  national  cause  ably  and  well. 

Meanwhile   English   national   and   patriotic   feeling 


30      WYCLIFFE  AND  THE  LOLLARDS 

was  steadily  growing.  The  Pope's  "Provisions"  for 
foreign  clergy  in  England  were  persistently  barred. 
Clement  VI.  gave  to  his  two  new  cardinals  "  provisions  " 
to  wealthy  English  dignities,  and  in  1343  Parliament 
addressed  the  Pope  and  declared  them  null  and  void. 
Both  the  statutes  of  "  Provisors  "  and  of  "  Praemunire  " 
struck  at  the  arrogant  papal  claims. 

But  there  was  one  strong  personality  who,  not  only 
from  his  character  but  from  his  position,  had  some 
influence  in  the  national  and  reforming  life  of  England 
— Archbishop  Richard  of  Armagh,  Primate  of  Ireland, 
to  whom  as  to  Grossetete  Wycliffe  frequently  refers. 
Richard  Fitzralph  studied  in  Oxford,  and  was  a  strong 
opponent  of  the  Mendicant  orders.  After  being 
Chancellor  of  Oxford  University,  he  became  Arch- 
bishop of  Armagh  in  1347.  He  was  a  learned  divine 
and  a  strenuous  controversialist,  and  in  some  English 
sermons  preached  in  St.  Paul's  Cathedral  in  London  he 
declared  against  mendicancy,  and  urged  the  duty  of 
confessing  not  to  wandering  friars  and  monks,  but  to 
the  parish  priest.  He  blames  the  insidious  and  under- 
mining efforts  of  the  friars,  and  urges  them  to  return 
to  primitive  simplicity.  Since  the  days  of  Grossetete, 
who  had  favoured  the  preaching  friars,  the  Franciscan 
and  Dominican  orders  had  been  pampered  by  the 
Church,  and  had  grown  rich,  idle,  avaricious,  and 
corrupt.  Hence  Fitzralph's  tirade  against  them. 
Fitzralph's  discourse  produced  a  reply  from  Roger 
Conway,  an  Oxford  Franciscan  doctor,  who  on  grounds 
of  Church  law  and  scholastic  reasoning  defends  his 
order  to  little  purpose.  In  1356,  Fitzralph  published 
his  Last  Age  of  the  Church,  in  which  he  declaims 
against  the  sins  of  the  clergy  and  the  simony  which 


REFORMERS  BEFORE  REFORMATION  31 

was  so  universal.  Fitzralph,  however,  was  a  narrow 
beholder  of  his  age,  and  being  attached  to  that  portion 
of  the  Franciscan  order  known  as  Joachimists  and  to 
the  Apocalyptic  views  of  the  "  Eternal  Gospel,"  he  only 
attacked  what  was  suitable  to  himself,  and  did  not  take 
a  large  and  full  view  of  the  state  of  the  Church.  His 
reforming  sentiments  touched  only  a  very  small  sphere, 
and  had  comparatively  little  effect. 

Thomas  Bradwardine — "  Doctor  Profundus  "  as  his 
age  loved  to  call  him — had  a  very  different  influence 
both  as  to  extent  and  power,  and  undoubtedly  his 
teachings  had  a  direct  influence  upon  Wycliffe.  While 
a  student  at  Merton  College  he  professed  to  undergo 
a  spiritual  awakening,  and,  like  Luther,  found  in  the 
Epistle  to  the  Romans  guidance  to  his  soul  in  the 
matter  of  peace  with  God.  He  believed  and  taught 
that  only  the  grace  of  God  received  by  and  working  in 
the  heart  can  produce  the  fruits  of  the  Spirit.  He 
accompanied  Edward  ill.  into  France  as  war-chaplain 
and  confessor,  and  exercised  a  great  influence  both 
upon  the  Sovereign  and  the  army,  so  much  so  that  the 
English  victories  were  ascribed  more  to  Bradwardine's 
prayers  than  to  Edward's  valour. 

In  1348  he  was  nominated  Archbishop  of  Canter- 
bury by  the  Chapter,  but  the  King  would  not  suffer  him 
to  leave  his  person.  In  the  following  year  he  was 
again  nominated  and  the  King  consented,  and  Thomas 
de  Bradwardine  was  consecrated  in  Avignon  on  July 
1349,  being  nominated  archbishop  by  both  King  and 
Pope.  A  week  or  two  later,  on  26th  August  1349,  he 
passed  away,  at  Lambeth.*Palace.  His  great  systematic 
work,  Causa  Dei,  or  "  The  Cause  of  God,"  has  as  its 
main  feature  the  discomfiture  of  Pelagianism  and  the 


32      WYCLIFFE  AND  THE  LOLLARDS 

glorification  of  God's  free  grace  in  the  salvation  of 
sinners.  In  a  deep  philosophical  spirit  he  proves  the 
sovereign  power  of  God's  free  grace,  supported  by 
Scripture  and  the  early  Fathers.  There  is  no  such  thing 
as  merit :  salvation  is  of  God's  grace  alone.  He  clung 
tenaciously  to  the  doctrines  of  the  Church,  but  threw 
himself  upon  God  to  defend  him  in  the  position  he  had 
taken  up,  founded  on  St.  Paul's  words,  "  By  grace  are 
ye  saved  through  faith :  and  that  not  of  yourselves,  it 
is  the  gift  of  God." 

The  same  cry  for  the  free  grace  of  God  which  found 
its  doctrinal  and  philosophical  expression  and  exposi- 
tion in  Bradwardine's  writings  had  popular  voice  given 
to  it  in  the  famous  "  Vision  of  Piers  Plowman,"  a  great 
popular  poem  which  gathers  up  the  hopes  and  aspira- 
tions of  the  age.  It  appeared  twelve  years  after  the 
archbishop's  death ;  and  while  written  evidently  by  a 
man  of  learning,  he  appeals  to  the  heart  and  soul  of 
the  English  people.  The  Bible  is  frequently  quoted 
in  its  Vulgate  form,  as  well  as  the  classics  and  the 
Fathers';  and  tradition  ascribes  the  poem  to  a  monk 
named  Richard  Longland  of  the  Benedictine  Priory  of 
Great  Malvern,  Worcestershire.  The  verses  reflect  the 
scenery  of  the  Malvern  hills,  and  the  life  of  the 
simple  agriculturists  of  the  district.  At  once,  as  if  by 
magic,  Piers  Plowman  became  the  type  to  the  district, 
and  finally  to  all  England,  of  a  simple  soul  searching 
for  the  light,  anxious  to  be  free  of  superstitions  and 
abuses,  and  with  a  spirit  on  fire  for  higher  things.  In 
the  homely  language  of  the  people  he  passes  from 
vision  to  vision,  and  like  Bunyan  dreams  his  dreams. 
The  vices  of  the  Church,,  the  deadness  of  the  ministry, 
are  all  brought  to  light.     Reason  and  conscience  preach 


REFORMERS  BEFORE  REFORMATION  33 

their  sermons,  and  in  striking  allegory  the  beauty  of 
holiness  is  portrayed.  With  bitter  satire  the  worldli- 
ness  of  the  clergy  is  described,  and  the  day  of  reform 
and  amendment  hailed  with  joy.  These  ten  visions 
throw  more  light  on  the  state  of  religion  in  England, 
and  on  the  aspirations  of  niany  in  the  land  who  were 
not  hopelessly  benighted  or  ecclesiastically  tongue-tied, 
than  any  other  written  documents  of  the  period.  The 
aspiration  of  England  is  represented  to  be  that  of  the 
dying  Gothe — "  More  light,  more  light." 

It  was  long  before  the  reforming  movement  took  a 
distinct  form :  for  centuries  there  were  only  mutter- 
ings  and  murmurings  and  mild  protests.  The  idea 
of  separation  from  the  Church  was  abhorrent,  but  the 
abuses  inside  the  Church  vexed  all  good  and  pious 
souls.  The  same  hesitation  has  characterised  many 
in  our  own  time,  who,  admiring  the  Roman  Church  for 
many  things,  deplore,  like  Pere  Hyacinth  and  the  Old 
Catholics,  the  wrong-doings  of  the  mother :  and  many 
a  pious  soul,  driven  by  the  Euroclydon  of  contending 
sects  and  beliefs  on  to  the  Italian  shore,  has  found  there 
on  the  beach  plenty  of  stinking  fish  and  unsavoury 
carcases.  The  blue-eyed  neophyte  of  the  famous 
picture  either  leaves  the  house  to  remain  religious,  or 
degenerates  into  one  of  the  fat,  red-nosed,  worldly 
schemers  who  occupy  the  stalls  beside  him. 

The  danger  of  the  position  has  all  along  lain  in  the 
infallible  claims  and  exclusive  and  solitary  position 
demanded  by  the  Roman  See.  "  Religious  liberty,"  wrote 
a  leading  Roman  Catholic  theologian  in  the  Rambler 
(Sept.  1851) — "in  the  sense  of  a  liberty  possessed  by 
every  man  to  choose  his  own  religion,  is  one  of  the  most 
wicked  delusions  ever  foisted  on  this  age  by  the  father 
3 


34      WYCLIFFE  AND  THE  LOLLARDS 

of  deceit.  The  very  name  of  liberty — except  in  the 
sense  of  a  permission  to  do  certain  definite  acts — ought  to 
be  banished  from  the  domain  of  religion.  It  is  neither 
more  nor  less  than  a  falsehood.  No  man  has  a  right 
to  choose  his  religion.  None  but  an  atheist  can  up- 
hold the  principles  of  religious  liberty.  Shall  I  there- 
fore fall  in  with  this  abominable  delusion  ?  Shall  I 
foster  that  damnable  doctrine  that  Socinianism  and 
Calvinism  and  Anglicanism  and  Judaism  are  not  every 
one  of  them  mortal  sins  like  murder  and  adultery  ? 
Shall  I  hold  out  hopes  to  my  erring  Protestant 
brother  that  I  shall  not  meddle  with  his  creed  if  he 
will  not  meddle  with  mine  ?  Shall  I  tempt  him  to 
forget  that  he  has  no  more  right  to  his  religious  views 
than  he  has  to  my  purse  or  to  my  house  or  my  life- 
blood  ?  No !  Catholicism  is  the  most  intolerant  of 
creeds.  It  is  intolerance  itself,  for  it  is  the  truth 
itself." 

Multitudes  of  official  utterances  from  the  Roman 
chair  might  be  given  in  proof  of  the  claim  advanced 
by  Roman  Catholics  that  "  Rome  has  spoken,  therefore 
it  is," — "Ubi  Petrus  est  ibi  Christus."  Manning's 
favourite  maxim  was — "  To  the  '  vox  populi '  of  the 
day  we  reply  with  the  'vox  Petri.'"  But  Pius  vn. 
put  the  matter  for  once  and  for  all  very  clearly  when 
he  wrote  his  encyclical  of  5th  February  1808 : 

"  It  is  proposed  that  all  religious  persons  should  be 
free,  and  their  worship  publicly  exercised ;  but  we  have 
rejected  this  article  as  contrary  to  the  Canons,  to  the 
Councils,  to  the  Catholic  Religion,  and  to  the  tran- 
quillity of  human  life. 

"  Out  of  the  Catholic  Church  there  is  no  salvation. 
The  French  system  of  indifference  or  equality  with 


REFORMERS  BEFORE  REFORMATION  35 

regard  to  all  religions  is  utterly  opposite  to  the  Catholic 
Faith,  which,  being  the  only  one  of  divine  institution, 
cannot  form  any  alliance  with  any  other  any  more 
than  Christ  can  league  with  Belial.  It  is  false  that  the 
Concordat  has  recognised  and  established  the  independ- 
ence of  the  Church  of  France,  or  that  it  has  given  a 
sanction  to"the  toleration  of  other  modes  of  worship." 


CHAPTER   II 

Wycliffe's  Early  Surroundings 

Although  the  Roman  system  had  in  Wycliffe's  boyhood 

overspread  all  England  and  Scotland  too,  the  memory 

of   the   earlier   ecclesiastical    rule   had   by   no   means 

died  out.     Aidan,  Cuthbert,   Bede,   Ninian,   Columba, 

Kentigern, — these  were   the   names   associated  in  the 

minds  of  the  people  generally  with  the  Faith  of  Christ 

and  its  diffusion  over  the  land. 

That  early  Columban  Church  which  lit  a  fire  on 

each  side  of  the  island,  one  at  Iona  and  the  other  at 

Lindisfarne,  as  if  in  token  that  the  intervening  lands 

were    theirs    for    Christ,   was    indeed    a   magnificent 

example  of  obedience  to  the  Master's  "  marching-orders." 

St.  Columba  among  the  Picts  of  Scotland  did  what  his 

predecessors  had  accomplished  in  Ireland.    Columbanus 

— an  ardent,  earnest  apostolic  soul,  went  forth  to  France 

and  Switzerland  along  with  his  friend  St.  Gall,  the 

latter  of  whom  spread  the  gospel  among  the  Alps,  and 

was  possibly  the  originator  of  that  primitive  form  of 

Christianity  of  which  the  Waldenses  were  the  later 

exponents.     Columbanus   having   settled    schools   and 

churches    in     the    Vosges,    advanced    to     Lombardy. 

Amongst  the  Apennines,  Agilulf  declared  his  message 

almost  within  sight  of  Rome,  to  which  he  owed  no 

allegiance,  and  founded   the   convent   of   Bobbio.     In 

u 


WYCLIFFE'S  EARLY  SURROUNDINGS     37 

Bavaria,  Clement  with  his  disciples  Sampson  and 
Yirgilius  spread  the  Columban  gospel;  the  latter 
penetrated  even  into  Carinthia,  and  eventually  became 
bishop  of  Salzburg.  John  Scotus  Erigena  succeeded 
these  great  evangelists,  and  settled  at  Charles  the  Bald's 
Court.  Claude  Clement,  known  as  Claude  of  Turin,  was 
also  of  the  same  missionary  army,  labouring  all  around 
the  city  which  has  given  him  its  name,  afterwards 
founding  the  University  of  Paris,  as  John  Scott, 
surnamed  Albinus,  founded  the  University  of  Pavia. 
In  North  Italy  these  Culdee  missionaries  had  another 
representative  in  Sedulius,  afterwards  Bishop  of  Oreta 
in  Spain,  as  Donatus  similarly  became  bishop  of  the 
Italian  Fiesole.  The  Cisalpine  valleys  were  the  home 
of  the  Culdee  missionaries,  who  did  much  to  give  them 
that  primitive  faith  from  which  all-powerful  Rome 
could  never  shake  them. 

Penetrating  even  to  Iceland  and  Greenland,  St. 
Brendan  and  St.  Cormac  planted  the  Cross,  while 
St.  Aidan  and  St.  Cuthbert  from  Lindisfarne  set 
themselves  to  conquer  Northumbria  for  the  Cross. 

That  Columban  or  Culdee  Christianity  was  what  the 
Roman  Church  displaced,  and  it  was  what  Wycliffe 
wished  revived  again.  A  few  words  regarding  the 
methods  of  these  primitive  Culdees  who  preceded  the 
Roman  clergy  in  Scotland  and  North  England  seem 
necessary. 

The  abbot  of  each  Culdee  establishment  exercised 
episcopal  superintendence  not  only  over  his  own 
monks,  but  over  the  whole  district  stretching  for  so 
many  miles  like  a  girth  round  their  church.  It  is, 
however,  quite  an  anachronism  to  project  the  modern 
bishop  into  Culdee  times,  for  Church  polity  was  then 


38      WYCLIFFE  AND  THE  LOLLARDS 

crude  and  unformed.  The  one  aim  of  these  men  was 
not  to  elaborate  a  perfect  system  of  Church  government, 
but  to  gather  in  something  to  govern.  All  other 
questions  were  secondary  to  this — how  to  bring  entire 
Scotland  in  touch  with  the  Cross.  Towards  the  close 
of  this  period  the  brethren  of  a  community  formally 
elected  a  bishop  for  themselves  and  their  district, 
until  the  Crown,  influenced  by  Rome,  stepped  in  and 
deprived  them  of  this  privilege. 

The  day  of  a  Culdee  missionary  opened  and  closed 
before  the  altar  of  heaven.  The  ancient  ritual  of  Iona, 
which  the  Culdees  clung  to  with  loving  tenacity,  pretty 
much  as  England  clung  to  the  "  Sarum  use  "  for  long 
after  Rome  had  become  dominant, — consisted  of 
prayers,  praise,  and  short  extracts  from  the  Gospels: 
the  Roman  writers  speak  of  their  "barbarous  rites" 
and  "  special  use," — pointing  at  the  simplicity  of  their 
rites.  Very  probably  the  "  Hymn  of  St.  Columba  " — 
which  the  Celtic  clergy  loved  so  much,  that  they  said 
their  Master  had  it  handed  down  to  him  from  heaven  by 
one  of  the  white-robed — formed  a  frequent  act  in  their 
common  worship.  It  begins  with  praise  of  God  and  His 
works :  it  then  describes  the  angelic  world,  the  material 
creation,  the  stars  and  their  motions,  and  then  with  a 
sublime  beauty  passes  to  the  description  of  the  future 
state — the  glories  of  heaven,  and  the  Paradise  of  God ; 
concluding  with  an  impressive  picture  of  the  Last  Day 
which  will  bear  some  comparison  with  the  "  Dies  Irse." 

The  worship  done,  and  the  solemn  blessing  over, — 
given  by  the  grey-haired  abbot  to  the  kneeling 
brethren, — the  Culdee  Fathers  sallied  forth  in  twos  to 
preach  and  teach  the  people  around  them.  In  misty 
moor    and    gloomy   Caledonian    glen,  —  in    the   little 


WYCLIFFE'S   EARLY  SURROUNDINGS    39 

Pictish  towns  and  by  the  shore  of  the  restless  sea — 
these  heralds  of  Christ  were  to  be  seen  and  heard. 
They  were  not  unlike  the  old  Druidical  priests  either 
in  appearance  or  in  their  solitary  manner  of  life  :  their 
hermit  spirits  roamed  and  dwelt  apart.  Their  language 
would  glow  with  Celtic  fervour  as  they  discoursed  to 
the  little  circle  of  Picts  gathered  round  them,  of  death, 
judgment,  heaven,  hell,  God's  power,  and  Christ's 
salvation.  There  is  a  very  strong  resemblance  between 
Ossian's  poetry  and  St.  Columba's  hymn.  Doubtless 
the  same  picturesque  glowing  imagery  characterised 
their  preaching.  Strong  in  their  convictions,  brave 
in  their  endeavours,  constant  in  their  aim,  unflinching 
in  their  self-denial,  they  cared  not  to  whom  they 
spoke  of  Christ  and  the  Cross.  They  preached  even 
in  the  Court,  and  brought  kings  not  only  to  worship 
at  the  feet  of  the  King  of  kings,  like  the  wise  men  of 
the  East,  but  like  them  to  offer  gifts. 

Indeed,  the  North  of  England  and  Scotland  went 
hand  in  hand  in  religious  matters,  were  converted  and 
christianised  mainly  by  the  same  missionaries,  and  as 
a  matter  of  fact  were  for  long,  even  after  the  Roman 
rule  triumphed,  ecclesiastically  one.  The  bishops  of 
Scotland  were  until  the  year  1472  under  the  primacy 
of  the  Archbishop  of  York,  which  explains  very 
vividly  the  uneven  division  of  England  into  the  two 
Archdioceses  of  Canterbury  and  York, — the  latter 
having  been  shorn  of  half  its  domain  by  the  erection 
of  St.  Andrews  in  1472  into  a  metropolitan  See 
independent  of  York,  thus  finally  severing  the  Scottish 
Church  from  the  English.  Hence  to-day  the  Canterbury 
prelate  is  "primate  of  all  England,"  whereas  the 
distinguished  Scotsman  who  to-day  adorns  the  See  of 


40      WYCLIFFE  AND  THE  LOLLARDS 

Eboracum  is  only  "primate  of  England" — a  title 
pointing  to  the  loss  of  his  pristine  designation  sub- 
joined to  his  Anglican  honours — "  primate  of  Scotland." 
In  a  word,  the  island  was  formerly  ecclesiastically 
halved  between  the  two  English  archbishops.  It  is 
true  Pope  Clement  ill.  made  the  ten  Scottish  Sees 
immediately  dependent  on  the  Pope.  "  Scotland  was 
from  earliest  times,"  said  Leo  xni.  in  his  Encyclical 
re-establishing  the  Roman  hierarchy  in  Scotland  (in 
shadow  and  in  name,  at  any  rate),  "  the  special  daughter 
of  the  Roman  See."  Pope  Gregory  had  allotted  twelve 
suffragans  to  the  northern  Church  under  the  supremacy 
of  the  See  of  York.  Hungus  in  vain  designed  St. 
Andrews  to  be  the  mother  Church  and  See  of  Pictland, 
— the  home  of  St.  Rule  and  the  resting-place  of  St. 
Andrew's  bones.  In  1125  the  bishop  sought  the 
pallium  from  Rome,  and  devised  the  complete  severance 
of  the  Scottish  Church  from  any  dependence  upon 
York ;  but  the  jealousies  of  the  other  Scottish  bishops 
destroyed  the  scheme,  and  deferred  the  erection  of  St. 
Andrews  into  the  metropolitan  See  of  Scotland  until 
the  year  1472,  when,  on  the  petition  of  James  III.  and 
the  representative  of  Bishop  Patrick  Graham,  that 
owing  to  the  wars  around  the  borders  and  the  dangers 
attending  a  journey  through  the  warlike  tribes  on 
both  sides  of  the  Cheviots  to  the  south,  Scottish  clergy 
could  not  appeal  in  person  to  the  Archbishop  of  York ; 
accordingly  Pope  Sixtus  IV.,  on  25th  August  1472,  in 
the  teeth  of  the  entreaties  and  protests  of  the  Arch- 
bishops of  York  and  Drontheim  and  the  bribe  of  10,000 
marks  to  the  King  if  he  would  abandon  the  scheme, 
raised  the  See  of  St.  Andrews  into  an  archbishopric  and 
its  occupant  metropolitan  of  all  Scotland, — a  position 


WYCLIFFE'S   EARLY  SURROUNDINGS    41 

which  was  enjoyed  by  hiin  until  Glasgow  asked  the 
same  honour  and  privilege,  which  were  acquired  only 
after  a  very  stiff  fight  lasting  more  than  a  generation. 
The  intervention  of  the  Archbishop  of  Drontheim  was 
due  to  the  fact  that  the  Orkney  and  Shetland  Islands 
were  ecclesiastically  under  the  Norwegian  Church,  not 
under  the  Scottish  or  the  English. 

The  primitive  Christianity  and  Christian  Church  of 
Scotland  and  northern  England  were  ousted  by  Rome 
only  after  prolonged  struggle  and  sustained  opposition. 
The  Whitby  conference  of  A.D.  664<,  to  settle  the  dis- 
pute between  the  English  and  Scottish  clergy  as  to  the 
date  of  Easter  and  the  form  of  the  tonsure,  when 
St.  Colman  and  his  friends,  following  the  Columban 
methods,  were  opposed  by  Wilfred  and  King  Oswi, 
terminated  the  discussion  by  declaring  that  he  pre- 
ferred St.  Peter  to  St.  Columba  and  Rome  to  Iona,  and 
when  St.  Chad,  bishop  of  the  East  Saxons,  fell  in  with 
the  Roman  rule,  that  conference  did  not  close  the 
debate.  It  was  more  than  a  debate  :  it  was  a  cleavage 
between  two  separate  forms  of  Christianity  —  the 
Roman  and  the  primitive  Columban  or  British.. 
In  669,  Theodore  of  Tarsus  was  appointed  to  the  See 
of  Canterbury  on  the  recommendation  of  Vitalian, 
bishop  of  Rome,  and  all  the  Saxon  prelates  accepted 
him  and  the  Roman  rules  and  discipline.  Bede  says 
he  was  the  first  archbishop  whom  all  the  English 
Church  obeyed.  Through  the  efforts  of  Theodore  and 
Adrian,  the  learned  African  who  accompanied  him  from 
Rome,  and  whom  William  of  Malmesbury  described  as 
"  a  fountain  of  letters  and  a  river  of  arts,"  all  England, 
with  its  seventeen  dioceses  of  Canterbury,  Rochester, 
London,    Dummock    (East    Angles),    Helmer    (ditto), 


42      WYCLIFFE  AND  THE  LOLLARDS 

Winchester,  Sherburn  (West  Angles),  Lichfield, 
Leicester,  Lindsey,  Worcester  and  Hereford  (Mercia), 
Selsey  (South  Saxon),  York,  Lindisfarne,  Hexham, 
and  Whithorn  (Northumbria),  became  Roman,  and 
the  British  Church  was  to  be  found  scattered  over 
England  in  fragments,  sporadic  cases  of  persons  and 
communities  who  preferred  the  Columban  rites  to  the 
intruded  Roman  ones.  Wales  remained  non-Roman 
so  long  as  she  held  her  national  independence.  In 
755,  Elford,  bishop  of  Bangor,  adopted  the  Roman 
Easter  use,  but  the  Bishop  of  South  Wales  declined  to 
comply.  In  the  middle  of  the  ninth  century,  as  is 
narrated  in  a  Greek  Life  of  St.  Chrysostom,  quoted 
by  Usher  in  his  Discourse  of  the  Religion  of  the 
Irish  and  British,  "certain  clergymen  who  dwelt  in 
the  isles  of  the  ocean  repaired  to  Constantinople  to 
inquire  of  certain  ecclesiastical  traditions  and  the  perfect 
and  exact  computation  of  Easter,"  thus  proving  that 
the  Easter  dispute  had  not  been  laid  to  rest  even  in 
the  ninth  century.  At  last  Wales  was  conquered  by 
Henry  I.,  and  Bernard  a  Norman  was  made  suffragan 
and  bishop  of  St.  David's,  and  the  entire  Cambrian 
Church  came  under  the  jurisdiction  of  Canterbury  as 
Canterbury  had  come  under  that  of  Rome.  The 
Scottish  Church  did  not  succumb  to  Roman  influence 
until  the  eleventh  century,  when  the  Princess  Margaret, 
who  married  Malcolm  Canmore,  king  of  Scots,  brought 
Roman  clergy  and  practices  with  her  which  in  time,- 
through  royal  influences  and  the  lethargy  of  the 
Culdee  Church,  triumphed  over  the  native  Columban 
establishment. 

Not,  indeed,  that  the   voice   of  the   protestor   was 
silenced  by  that  triumph  either  in  England,  Wales,  or 


WYCLIFFE'S  EARLY  SURROUNDINGS    43 

Scotland.  All  the  old  British  and  Columban  practices 
were  gradually  ousted  in  favour  of  Roman  plain- 
chants  and  ritual  and  practices.  So  late  as  1240  a 
protest  was  made  by  iElfred  (Spec.  Char.  ii.  20)  against 
ritualism  and  ceremonialism,  and  this  although  he 
was  a  dutiful  minister  of  religion.  Simon  Taylor,  a 
Dominican  friar  of  Dunblane  educated  in  France, 
returned  to  Scotland  and  reformed  the  entire  musical 
service,  vocal  and  instrumental,  of  the  Church  of  his 
native  land.  Organs  were  gradually  introduced,  even 
though  the  opposition  in  Scotland  against  the  "  kist 
o'  whistles  "  was  as  marked  then  as  in  a  post-Reforma- 
tion era.  Alfred,  looking  out  upon  the  rapidly- 
advancing  tide  of  innovation,  cries  out  in  distress : 
"  Since  all  types  and  figures  are  now  ceased,  why  so 
many  organs  and  cymbals  in  our  churches  ?  why,  I 
say,  that  terrible  blowing  of  bellows  that  rather 
imitates  the  frightsomeness  of  thunder  than  the  sweet 
harmony  of  the  voice  ?  One  restrains  his  breath, 
another  breathes  his  breath,  and  a  third  unaccount- 
ably dilates  his  voice,  and  sometimes,  which  I  am 
ashamed  to  say,  they  fall  a-quivering  like  the  neighing 
of  horses.  Then  they  lay  down  their  manly  vigour, 
and  with  their  voices  endeavour  to  imitate  the  softness 
of  women;  then  by  an  artificial  circumvolution  they 
have  a  variety  of  outrunnings.  Sometimes  you  shall 
see  them  with  open  mouths  and  their  breath  restrained 
as  if  they  were  expiring  and  not  singing;  and  by  a 
ridiculous  interruption  of  their  breath  seem  as  if  they 
were  altogether  silent.  At  other  times  they  appear 
like  persons  in  the  agonies  of  death;  then  with  a 
variety  of  gestures  they  personate  comedians, — their 
lips  are  contracted,  their  eyes  roll,  their  shoulders  are 


44      WYCLIFFE  AND  THE  LOLLARDS 

moved  upwards  and  downwards,  their  fingers  move 
and  dance  to  every  motion :  and  this  ridiculous 
behaviour  is  called  religion;  and  where  these  things 
are  most  frequently  done  there  God  is  said  to  be  more 
honourably  worshipped." 

This  protest  against  an  increasing  and  arrogant 
ceremonialism  was  made  only  about  three-quarters  of 
a  century  before  WyclifFe's  birth.  There  were  many, 
both  in  England,  Scotland,  and  Wales,  who  quietly 
protested  against  much  of  the  new  Roman  way,  but 
the  protests  became  feebler  and  fewer  until  the  era 
of  the  Renaissance  and  Reformation  began  to  dawn. 
(And  doubtless  the  sacred  memories  and  associations 
of  the  great  Northumbrian  Church, — holy  Lindisfarne 
with  its  missionary  fires,  —  sacred  Jarrow  with  its 
discovered  and  disclosed  gospel, —  Durham  with  its 
memories  of  St.  Cuthbert,  who  led  the  North  like  a 
little  child  to  the  Cross,  and  who  lies  beneath  the 
altar  of  the  cathedral  as  Bede  lies  underneath  the 
galilee,} — one  at  the  east  and  one  at  the  west  of 
the  stately  minster  as  if  to  show  that  the  Scripture 
and  the  altar  are  both  needed  to  a  complete  life  and 
being, — all  these  and  many  more  were  the  atmosphere 
breathed  by  young  Wycliffe  at  Spresswell  and 
Egglestone.  ) 

In  1827,  in  order  to  satisfy  a  general  and  natural 
interest  and  curiosity,  St.  Cuthbert's  tomb  in  Durham 
Cathedral  was  opened  and  the  coffin-lid  removed, 
when  his  remains  were  found  in  a  wonderful  state  of 
preservation.  A  small  Greek  cross  on  his  breast  was 
taken  out,  and,  along  with  an  ivory  comb  and  some 
embroidered  vestments,  were  placed  in  the  library  of 
the   Cathedral    by  the    Dean    and    Chapter.      What 


WYCLIFFE'S  EARLY  SURROUNDINGS    45 

happened  to  his  body  happened  likewise  to  his  spirit 
and  influence,  which  lived  on  through  the  years,  and 
was  quick  and  powerful  in  the  North  in  WyclifTe's 
day :  and  what  Wycliffe  did  was  spiritually  very  much 
what  was  done  five  hundred  years  later  by  the  Durham 
Chapter  literally, — he  took  the  cross  out  of  its  hiding 
and  brought  it  out  into  the  light,  from  out  of  the 
graveclothes  of  ceremonialism  and  the  decay  of  a 
human  system.  At  any  rate,' he  is  the  direct  successor 
of  those  who  rejected  the  mechanicalism  of  Rome  and 
thirsted  for  a  pure,  primitive,  and  active  Church,  with 
an  open  Scripture  as  Bede  gave  it,  and  a  simple  but 
beautiful  gospel  as  Cuthbert  preached  it.  >  The  Roman 
Church  after  its  conquest  over  the  British  and 
Columban  Church  ostentatiously  declared  that  it  alone 
enjoyed  an  unbroken  descent  from  Christ's  apostles; 
to  which  the  acid  writer  of  to-day  replies :  "  Yes,  it  is 
a  descent  from  them,  and  a  very  great  one."  The 
Evangelical  succession,  however,  never  failed,  though 
it  may  have  remained  very  quiescent  and  unexpressed 
for  two  hundred  years.  It  could  not  be  otherwise 
but  that  John  Wycliffe  was  inspired  by  the  memories 
of  the  great  heroes  of  the  Northumbrian  Church  who 
preached  Christ  in  His  fulness,  power,  and  presence, 
and  changed  the  heathen  tribes  of  the  North  into 
civilisation  and  piety.  (In  a  word,  John  WyclirYe 
may  be  claimed  as  the  resurrection  of  an  older  faith 
than  Rome,— a  resurrection  which  in  time  proved 
triumphantly  victorious ;  and  after  all  the  old  system 
triumphed,  though  after  many  days  and  manifold 
vicissitudes. 

There  can  be  little  doubt  that  the  earliest  Reformers 
within  the  Church  directed  their  attacks  not  so  much 


46      WYCLIFFE  AND  THE  LOLLARDS 

against  any  of  the  Church's  doctrines,  as  against  the 
abuses  and  corruptions  which  had  grown  up  within 
the  great  organisation  in  which  they  had  been  reared. 
The  later  Reformers,  such  as  Luther,  Calvin,  and  Knox, 
assailed  the  entire  papal  system  root  and  branch,  but 
the  earlier  reformers  attacked  only  the  corruptions  of 
a  system  which  they  naturally  accepted  as  right  and 
true. 

By  way  of  contrast  between  the  earlier  and  later 
reformers,  take  the  Scottish  Reformation  of  1549-1560, 
as  contrasted  with  the  earlier  movements  towards 
reform. 

For  several  centuries  after  the  introduction  of  the 
Roman  rule  which  ousted  the  Culdee,  the  Church  of 
Scotland  was  vigorous,  active,  and  useful.  And  then 
decay  set  in,  as  all  over  Europe.  The  philosophy  of 
the  Schoolmen,  with  its  mechanical  modes  of  thinking, 
crippled  intelligence  and  checked  inquiry ;  superstitions 
and  unscriptural  articles  were  added  to  the  Church's 
creed ;  the  religious  orders  and  the  parish  priests,  with 
notable  exceptions,  became  worldly,  careless,  and  un- 
spiritual.  The  abbacies  and  other  lucrative  posts  in 
the  Church  were  presented  often  to  Court  favourites, 
non-ordained  persons  who  had  had  no  religious  training 
or  qualifications.  Sometimes  even  a  child  was  made 
abbot  to  draw  the  revenues :  the  people  associated  the 
Church  with  greed,  deceit,  and  even  with  gross  vice  in 
its  highest  places ;  the  Church  itself  acknowledged  its 
degradation,  but  confessed  to  its  powerlessness  to  reform 
matters ;  and,  finally,  the  crash,  long  foreseen,  came,  and 
another  Reformation  was  seen  to  be  a  necessity.  As 
the  Roman  ousted  the  Culdee  Church,  so  now  the 
Roman  Church  was  to  be  ousted  by  the  Reformed,  and 


WYCLIFFE'S  EARLY  SURROUNDINGS    47 

the  chief  instrument  in  this  great  national  movement 
was  John  Knox,  who  shares  with  Sir  Walter  Scott  and 
Robert  Burns  the  honour  of  being  included  in  the 
trinity  of  the  three  greatest  Scotsmen. 

The  good  and  able  men  within  the  Church  knew 
and  deplored  the  countless  evils  which  were  condoned ; 
but  the  ecclesiastical  body  was  tied  hand  and  foot.  On 
the  eve  of  the  Reformation  a  council  was  held — in  1549 
— for  the  purpose  of  reforming  abuses;  but,  as  Lord 
Hailes  says,  "  when  a  house  is  in  flames  it  is  vain  to 
draw  up  regulations  for  the  bridling  of  joists  or  the 
sweeping  of  chimneys."  The  canons  of  this  council 
recommended  that  a  reader  in  theology  should  be  in 
every  cathedral,  church,  and  monastery ;  that  students 
should  be  more  carefully  educated:  that  marriage 
registers  should  be  instituted  in  every  parish ;  and  that 
such  regulations  should  be  made  as  would  remove  the 
suspicion  that  at  death  the  estates  of  many  persons 
fall  unjustly  into  the  hands  of  the  clergy.  In  1551, 
Archbishop  Hamilton  published  a  Catechism,  in  the 
vulgar  tongue,  for  the  instruction  of  the  people,  and 
other  means  were  used  to  stem  the  tide  of  inevitable 
Reformation.  But  it  was  too  late,  and  the  hand  pointed 
to  the  hour  and  the  clock  struck.  The  Scottish 
Reformation  came  mainly  from  within  the  Church 
itself, — from  priests  and  people  who  were  weary  of 
the  mechanicalism,  and  worse,  of  the  Church's  methods, 
and  who  sighed  after  a  brighter  day  of  spiritual  liberty, 
aspiration,  and  hope.  The  reforming  movement  was 
strengthened  by  the  blindness  of  the  Roman  Church 
itself,  which  foolishly  sought  by  persecution  and  death 
to  crush  the  upward  movement.  But  the  hour  had 
come,  and  a  new  development  of  religion  in  Scotland 


48      WYCLIFFE  AND  THE  LOLLARDS 

was  clearly  a  necessity :  the  soul  of  the  nation  cried 
out  for  a  more  spiritual  religion,  a  purer  Church,  and 
an  intellectual  awakening. 

The  spirit  of  Scotland  on  the  eve  of  the  Reformation 
is  well  represented  by  Sir  David  Lindsay  of  the  Mount, 
who  in  his  Satires  dwelt  upon  the  state  of  religion  in 
the  land.  In  "  Kitties  Confession  "  he  sums  up  the 
teaching  of  the  average  priest  of  the  day, — a  summary 
contrived  by  one  who  was  within  the  Church,  and 
whose  Satyre  of  the  Three  Estates  was  performed  at 
Linlithgow  Palace  in  presence  of  the  King,  the  Queen, 
and  the  Court,  of  many  nobles,  bishops,  and  dignitaries, 
and  a  multitude  of  commoners, — a  remarkable  fact 
considering  the  severity  of  the  reflections  on  the  vices 
of  the  time,  and  especially  of  the  clergj^.  The  average 
priest,  according  to  Lindsay,  summed  up  his  theology 
thus: 

"  He  bade  me  not  to  Christ  be  kind, — 

To  keep  the  law  with  heart  and  mind, 

And  love  and  thank  His  great  mercie 

From  sin  and  hell  that  saved  me, 

And  love  my  neighbour  as  mysel, 

Of  this  no  thing  he  could  me  tell, 

But  gave  me  penance,  ilk  ane  day  [every  day] 

And  Ave  Marie  for  to  say, 

And  Fridays  five  no  fish  to  eat, 

But  butter  and  eggs  are  better  meat, 

And  with  ane  plack  to  buy  ane  messe  [mass] 

From  drunken  Sir  John  Latinless. 

Friars  swear  by  their  profession 

None  can  be  safe  without  confession, 

And  causes  all  men  understand 

That  it  is  goddis  own  command ; 

Yet  it  is  nought  but  men's  own  dream 

The  people  to  confound  and  shame. 

It  is  nought  else  but  man's  own  law 


WYCLIFFE'S  EARLY  SURROUNDINGS    49 

Wherewith  they  assail  them  as  they  will, 
And  makes  the  law  conform  there  till. 
Sitting  is  mennis  conscience 
Above  Goddis  magnificence, 
And  does  the  people  teach  and  tyste 
To  serve  the  Pope,  the  Antichrist. 
To  the  great  God  omnipotent 
Confess  thy  sin  and  sore  repent, 
And  trust  in  Christ,  as  writis  Paul, 
Who  shed  His  blood  to  save  thy  soul ; 
For  none  can  thee  absolve  but  He, 
Nor  take  away  thy  sin  from  thee." 

"  He  me  absolvit  from  ane  plack, 
Though  he  no  price  with  me  would  mak  : 
And  mickle  Latin  he  did  mummle 
I  heard  no  thing  but  hummill-bummill. 
He  showed  me  nought  of  Goddis  word 
Whilk  sharper  is  than  any  sword, 
And  deep  into  our  heart  does  prent 
Our  sin  wherethrough  we  do  repent. 
He  put  me  no  thing  into  fear 
Wherethrough  I  should  my  sin  forbear : 
He  shaw  me  not  the  malediction 
Of  God  for  sin,  nor  the  affliction, 
And  in  this  life  the  great  mischief 
Ordained  to  punish  whore  and  thief : 
Nor  shaw  he  me  of  hellis  pain 
That  I  might  fear,  and  vice  refrain. 
He  counselled  me  not  to  abstene 
And  lead  a  holy  life  and  clean. 
Of  Christis  blood  nothing  he  knew 
Nor  of  His  promises  full  true, 
That  savis  all  that  will  believe 
That  Satan  shall  us  never  grieve." 

In  "  The  Monarchie,"  addressed  by  Lindsay — 

"  To  faithful  prudent  pastors  spiritual, 
To  noble  earls  and  lordis  temporal," 
4 


50      WYCLIFFE  AND  THE  LOLLARDS 

he  further  sets  forth  his  views  on  the  need  of  reforma- 
tion, and  in  "  The  Complaint  of  the  King's  Papingo " 
[Peacock]  he  bitterly  satirises  the  corruptions  of  the 
Church,  especially  in  the  matter  of  the  treatment  by 
the  clergy  of  the  dying. 

The  average  parson  of  Lindsay's  day  is  thus 
pictured : 

"  The  proud  parson  I  think  truly 
He  leads  his  life  right  lustily  : 
Forwhy  he  has  none  other  tyne  [trouble] 
But  tak  his  tiend  and  spend  it  syne  [afterwards] 
But  he  is  oblyote  [obliged]  by  reeson 
To  preach  until  his  perrochion  [parishioners], 
Though  they  want  preaching  seventeen  year 
He  will  not  want  ane  boll  of  beir." 

This  was  not  the  opinion  nor  the  outcry  of  an  enemy 
of  the  Church,  but  of  a  friend,  who  saw  the  Church's 
danger  and  desired  an  awakening.  Looking  abroad  on 
the  superstitions,  pilgrimages,  immoralities,  and  un- 
spirituality  of  the  age,  he  cries : 

"  Set  up  !   Thou  sleepest  all  too  long,  0  Lord  ! 
And  mak  ane  hastie  reformation 
On  them  whilk  tramp  doun  Thy  gracious  word 
And  has  ane  deadly  indignation 
At  them  whilk  maketh  true  narration 
Of  Thy  Gospel,  showing  the  verity. 
0  Lord  !    I  make  Thee  supplication, 
Support  our  Faith,  our  Hope  and  Charity." 

The  Reformation  both  in  Scotland  and  England  was 
a  wholesale  attack  upon  the  Church's  abuses,  life, 
position,  doctrine,  and  practices.  It  and  the  European 
Reformation  generally  was-  the  outcome  of  these 
centuries  of  muttering  and  murmuring  against  growing 


WYCLIFFE'S  EARLY  SURROUNDINGS    51 

corruptions  and  new  superstitions.  The  earlier  Re- 
formers never  thought  of  leaving,  much  less  of  injuring 
or  destroying,  the  ecclesiastical  fabric  in  society  and  life, 
but  struggled  inside  the  Church  to  reform  its  abuses 
and  right  its  wrongs.  In  a  word,  the  contrast  between 
the  two  classes  of  earlier  and  later  Reformers  is  that 
men  like  Wycliffe  and  the  Lollards  strove  to  bring 
about  a  reformation  from  within  and  at  the  Church's 
own  instigation ;  while  the  Reformation  of  the  six- 
teenth century  was  a  general  attack  on  the  whole 
system  with  a  view  to  reconstruction  on  a  more 
scriptural  and  apostolic  basis. 


CHAPTER   III 

Wycliffe's  Student  Life 

From  where  it  rises  amid  the  rocky  picturesque  corries 
of  Cross  Fell  in  Cumberland,  down  through  the  fair 
valley  between  Barnard  Castle  and  Old  Richmond,  and 
thence  dividing  Yorkshire  from  Durham  until  it  pours 
itself  into  the  North  Sea  in  an  estuary  of  very  con- 
siderable extent,  there  are  few  rivers  in  England  more 
charming  and  beautiful  than  the  Tees.  Cross  Fell, 
where  the  stream  has  its  source,  is  one  of  the  finest  of 
the  Cumberland  hills,  and  the  scenery  of  the  valleys 
around  is  indescribably  beautiful,  —  with  rugged 
precipice  and  green  valley  and  distant  far-off  view  of 
the  mountain  mists  and  lakes,  which  drew  forth  the 
aspirations  and  eulogies  of  Wordsworth,  Southey, 
Arnold,  and  Ruskin, — a  land  of  mountain  and  of  flood 
very  like  Caledonia,  itself  indeed  only  a  rough,  rude 
continuation  into  England  of  the  piled-up  Scottish 
Cheviots,  thus  throwing  a  great  mountain  barrier 
across  the  land  from  Lindisfarne  to  Morecambe  Bay. 
The  barrier  of  nature  was  not  deemed  ample  enough 
by  the  Roman  legions,  who  inch  by  inch  fought  their 
way  northwards,  driving  the  rude  tribes  in  front  of 
them.  These  Cumberland  bens  and  fells  became  the 
refuge  of  many  of  them,  while  others  fled  to  the 
Cheviots  and  northwards.     Hadrian's  Wall,  seven  feet 

52 


WYCLIFFE'S  STUDENT  LIFE  53 

thick,  built  of  regularly  dressed  stone,  can  still  be 
traced  a  little  north  of  Cross  Fell,  stretching  across  the 
entire  breadth  of  Cumberland  and  Northumberland 
like  a  great  stone  barrier  to  keep  off  the  wild  incursions 
of  the  North.  At  Hexham  and  Newcastle  the  Roman 
remains  are  numerous  and  valuable,  the  ditch,  stone 
wall  and  stations,  castles  and  turrets  being  traceable 
all  along  the  line  of  route,  while  at  Borcovicus  one  of 
the  fortresses  still  survives  in  very  perfect  preservation. 
The  second  and  the  sixth  legions  built  this  gigantic 
barrier,  which  occupies  three  thousand  acres,  and  took 
several  years  to  build  by  the  twelve  thousand  soldiers 
employed.  A  curious  and  unique  passage  in  Procopius 
describes  the  Roman  legionaries'  impressions  of  the 
land  beyond  the  wall  and  the  southern  parts  below  the 
Tees :  "  Moreover,  in  this  isle  of  Brittia,  men  of  ancient 
time  built  a  long  wall,  cutting  off  a  great  portion  of 
it :  for  the  soil,  and  the  men,  and  all  other  things  are 
not  alike  on  both  sides.  For  on  the  eastern  (southern) 
side  of  the  wall  there  is  a  wholesomeness  of  air  in 
conformity  with  the  seasons,  moderately  warm  in 
summer  and  cool  in  winter.  Many  men  inhabit  here 
living  much  as  other  men.  The  trees  with  their 
appropriate  fruits  flourish  in  season,  and  their  corn- 
lands  are  as  productive  as  others;  and  the  district 
appears  sufficiently  fertilised  by  streams.  But  on  the 
western  (northern)  side  all  is  different,  insomuch, 
indeed,  that  it  would  be  impossible  for  a  man  to  live 
the^3  even  half  an  hour.  Vipers  and  serpents  in- 
numerable, with  all  other  kinds  of  wild  beasts,  infest 
that  place;  and  what  is  most  strange,  the  natives 
affirm  that  if  any  one  passing  that  wall  should  proceed 
to  the  other  side,  he  would  die  immediately, — unable 


54      WYCLIFFE  AND  THE  LOLLARDS 

to  endure  the  unwholesome ness  of  the  atmosphere, 
death  also  attacking  such  beasts  as  go  thither,  destroys 
them.  They  say  that  the  souls  of  men  departed  are 
always  conducted  to  this  place ;  but  in  what  manner 
I  will  explain  immediately,  having  frequently  heard  it 
from  men  of  that  region,  relating  it  most  seriously, 
although  I  would  rather  ascribe  their  asseverations  to 
a  certain  dreamy  faculty  which  possesses  them." 

Written  in  the  sixth  century  soon  after  the  Roman 
legions  had  abandoned  Britain  in  order  to  return  to 
the  defence  of  the  Eternal  City,  the  Byzantine  historian 
gathers  up  the  fearful  stories  and  terrible  tales  of  the 
Britain  beyond  Hadrian's  Wall,  which  to  him  was  the 
"  ultima  Thule "  of  being.  Strange  that  he  should 
describe  the  Roman  legionary  peering  into  the  mist 
and  darkness  beyond  the  wall  with  superstitious  and 
supernatural  curiosity,  when  the  Emperor  whose  name 
is  borne  by  the  gigantic  barrier  did  something  similar 
in  the  spiritual  world,  addressing  his  soul  at  his  life's 
close  as  "animula,  blandula,  vagula,"  and  wondering 
how  possibly  the  "  vital  spark  of  heavenly  flame  "  could 
live  in  the  darkness  and  dimness  and  mystery  of  the 
unseen.  Hobbes'  dying  speech — "  Now  for  a  jump 
into  the  great  Perhaps,"  and  Newman's  Dream  of 
Gerontius,  conjure  up  the  vision  from  the  wall  of  the 
half-Christian  Emperor  and  the  never-ceasing  gaze  of 
Humanity  into  the  great  Unknown  Land. 

To  Wycliffe  another  view  besides  that  presented 
itself, — the  vision  of  the  unfulfilled  spiritual  aspirations 
of  his  island-nation.  Like  Dante  and  the  other 
Renaissance  spirits,  his  eyes  were  strained  in  peering 
into  the  good  time  coming  and  the  long-hoped  for 
Golden  Age  and  reign  of  Truth  and  Love.     Clouds  and 


WYCLJFFE'S  STUDENT  LIFE  55 

darkness  rolled  blackly  in  front  of  him,  as  black  as  the 
dank  mists  beyond  the  wall  he  must  have  known  so 
well ;  but,  as  "  the  morning  star  of  the  Reformation," 
he  led  the  way  into  the  dimness  of  an  unpropitious 
future,  and  himself  was  the  first  to  break  into  the 
blackness  and  proclaim  the  new  era  of  intellectual, 
spiritual,  and  moral  liberty. 

The  northern  part  of  England,  however,  with  which 
Wycliffe's  name  is  associated,  has  other  elements  of 
interest  connected  with  it  as  bearing  on  the  early 
reformer's  boyhood  and  training.  The  scenery  of  the 
Tees  valley,  with  the  background  of  the  massive 
Western  mountain  systems,  and  the  rich  verdure  of  the 
pastures  clothing  the  river  on  either  side,  has  not  lost 
its  attraction  and  charm  even  to-day,  when  a  few  hours 
suffice  to  land  one  at  the  foot  of  the  great  St.  Bernard 
and  five  days  to  cross  to  the  New  World.  Barnard 
Castle  is  to-day  in  ruins,  standing  at  the  north  ex- 
tremity of  Barnard  town  and  the  river ;  but  even  in 
decay  it  rises  a  majestic  object  of  historic  interest  and 
an  imposing  Warden  of  the  Tees  valley.  In  WTycliffe's 
day  the  Castle  was  the  greatest  and  most  powerful 
after  Durham,  where  the  prince-bishop  held  his  court 
and  wielded  both  crozier  and  sceptre.  The  ruins 
to-day  cover  nearly  seven  acres ;  and  looking  out  from 
the  summit  of  the  gigantic  fortification  which  towers 
up  seventy  feet  from  the  bed  of  the  Tees  and  com- 
mands a  view  of  the  entire  vale,  it  is  not  difficult  to 
reanimate  the  old  scene  of  feudal  strength  and 
baronial  magnificence.  It  was  in  the  year  1178  that 
Barnard  Balliol,  grandfather  of  John  Balliol,  king  of 
Scotland,  raised  the  huge  pile;  and  it  is  not  without 
interest  to  remember  that  these  early  associations  of 


56      WYCLIFFE  AND  THE  LOLLARDS 

Wycliffe  with  that  powerful  family  were  continued  at 
Oxford,  when  at  Balliol  College  he  made  his  mark  and 
won  his  fame,  and  finally  became  its  Master. 
^  The  village  of  Wycliffe  or  "water-cliff"  in  Yorkshire 
(made  famous  by  Marmion),  stands  between  Barnard 
Castle  and  Old  Richmond ;  and  the  chief  family  of  the 
place  bore  the  hamlet's  name,  and  had  borne  it  ever 
since  the  Norman  Conquest.  The  manor-house  of 
Wycliffe  in  very  few  generations  wanted  a  Wycliffe  as 
its  occupant.  J  The  village  to-day  is  a  trifling  one,  with 
some  two  hundred  inhabitants,  a  beautiful  parish 
church  and  valuable  rectory,  Sir  C.  Constable  being 
the  patron.  (  It  was  not  exactly  in  the  village  bearing 
his  parents'  name  that  the  Reformer  was  born,  but  at 
Spresswell,  a  tiny  hamlet.  The  village  stood  about 
midway  between  Barnard  Castle  and  Old  Richmond^ 
which  is  not  far  distant  from  the  present  prosperous 
town  of  Richmond  on  the  Swale,  with  its  huge  castle, 
one  of  the  most  majestic  ruins  in  England,  its  great 
keep,  a  hundred  feet  high,  one  of  the  most  perfect 
specimens  extant  of  Norman  baronial  architecture. 
(  Wycliffe  was  born )  not  onlyrin  a  land  where  feudal 
castles  lifted  their  towers  every  few  miles,  as  at 
Barnard,  Richmond,  Durham,  Alnwick,  and  royal 
Bamborough,^but  in  an  age  when  the  Norman  feudalism 
and  spirit  were  rampant.  The  Norman  Conquest  was 
a  matter  of  only  two  and  a  half  centuries  previous,  and 
the  life  reflected  in  Percy's  Reliques  was  the  life  of 
northern  England  at  Wycliffe's  birth. 

Two  members  of  a  family  of  this  name  were  con- 
spicuous in  the  wars  with  Scotland.  During  the  early 
part  of  the  reign  of  Edward  the  Third,  Robert  de 
Wyclif   (who   is  described  as   of    the   wapentake   of 


WYCLIFFE'S  STUDENT  LIFE  57 

Gilling)  was  commissioned  by  the  King  to  raise  troops 
to  repel  Robert  Bruce.  In  1334  and  during  the 
following  ten  years,  writs  to  the  same  effect  were 
frequently  addressed  to  Roger  de  Wyclif,  who  is 
described  as  of  the  same  locality.  We  find  this 
individual  associated  with  the  Vavassors,  Maulevrers, 
Markenfields,  Fairfaxes,  Scropes,  and  Darrells  of  York- 
shire. (See  Rot  Scot  i.  222,  287,  303,  369,  528,  653.) 
In  1604  the  Wyclif s  of  Wyclif  ranked  as  gentlemen, 
and  were  returned  as  recusants.  (See  Peacock's  List 
of  Roman  Catholics  in  the  County  of  York,  p.  80.) 
In  1635,  Simon  Birkbeck,  "minister  of  God's  Word  at 
Gilling  in  Richmondshire,"  writes  thus :  "  John  Wyclif 
was  born  in  the  north,  where  there  is  (near  this  place 
where  I  live)  an  ancient  worshipful  house  bearing  the 
name  of  Wyclif  of  Wyclif  "  {The  Protestant's  Evidence, 
ii.  71,  ed.  1635).  In  all  probability,  then/ the  future 
Reformer  came  of  a  family  of  considerable  antiquity, 
which  at  the  time  of  his  birth  was  something  more 
than  respectable. 

The  date  of  his  birth  is  indeed  very  uncertain.  He 
died  in  1384,  and  could  not  then  have  been  younger 
than  sixty ;  and  accordingly  a  date  somewhere  about 
1324  or  a  little  earlier  is  usually  accepted  as  a  con- 
venient and  probable  year  for  the  rise  in  Teesdale  of 
the  morning  star  of  the  Reformation.  Probably  he 
was  baptized  in  the  old  parish  church  of  Wycliffe :  his 
father  was  a  scion  of  the  house  of  Wycliffe,  although 
nothing  can  be  traced  of  his  rank  and  profession  in 
life.  The  family  records  contain  no  reference  to  the 
Reformer,  and  the  family  all  through  were  staunch 
adherents  of  the  Roman  faith.  A  similar  dimness 
surrounds  the  Reformer's  early  training  and  education. 


58      WYCLIFFE  AND  THE  LOLLARDS 

Probably  he  received  his  earliest  instructions  at  the 
Abbey  of  Egglestone,  a  few  miles  up  the  valley  from 
Spresswell,  near  Rokeby^  where  the  Tees  and  the 
Greta  unite,  and  wiiere,  amid  scenery  of  surpassing 
loveliness,  rises  the  old  castle,  which  only  ten  years 
before  Wycliffe's  birth  was  demolished  by  an  army  of 
Scots  who,  encouraged  by  the  victory  of  Bannockburn, 
ravaged  North  England  and  devastated  castle  and 
hamlet, — an  incident  made  for  ever  celebrated  in  Sir 
Walter  Scott's  novel. 

(  Egglestone  Abbey,  though  now  only  a  perpetual 
curacy,  was  in  Wycliffe's  youth  a  great  and  powerful 
monastic  establishment;  and  probably  within  its 
cloisters  he  received  his  first  impressions  of  life  and 
truth. '  The  religious  associations  of  the  neighbour- 
hood were  very  rich  and  precious.  It  is  the  land 
consecrated  for  ever  by  the  memories  of  St.  Aidan  and 
the  Holy  Island  of  the  East  Coast,  where  even  yet 
St.  Cuthbert's  sea-stone  beads  and  white,  wild,  ocean- 
washed  ducks,  making  their  home  at  Lindisfarne  and 
the  other  isles  off  Bamborough,  rendered  illustrious 
either  by  missionary  saint  or  modern  heroine,  speak  of 
the  sacred  influences  early  at  work  in  Northumbria. 
St.  Cuthbert's  mighty  influence  was  far  from  being 
dead  even  in  Wycliffe's  day,  for  Durham  Cathedral 
with  its  three  stately  towers  and  wonderful  beauty  of 
situation,  bore  and  bears  the  name  of  the  great  Scottish 
saint  who  lies  buried  beneath  the  altar,  and  whose 
influence  was  a  powerful  factor  for  centuries  after  his 
death,  so  much  so,  indeed,  that  at  so  late  a  date  as 
at  the  battle  of  Flodden  in  1513  the  English  carried 
in  front  of  them  an  altar  cloth  used  by  him.  St. 
Cuthbert's   Cathedral,   Durham,   one   of   two   English 


WYCLIFFE'S  STUDENT  LIFE  59 

cathedrals  dedicated  to  Scottish  missionaries,  —  the 
other  being  St.  Asaph's  in  Wales,  is  a  very  worthy 
monument  to  one  who  first  saw  the  heavenly  vision 
in  the  Tweed  valley  and  was  not  disobedient  to  it, 
and  who  from  the  day  the  fair  young.-ehild  under  the 
shadow  of  the  Eildons  bade  him  leave'  his  vain  sports 
and  follow  the  Lord,  was  "  modest'  in  the  virtue  of 
patience  and  affable  to  all  who  came*  to  him  for  comfort." 
The  Melrose  shepherd  became  the  world  -  famed 
missionary-saint.  Not  so  generous  in  disposition  and 
gentle  in  bearing  was  St.  Aidan,  whom  St.  Cuthbert 
his  disciple  saw  Elijah-like  ascending  to  heaven,  but 
who  was  the  pioneer  of  Christianity  in  North  England. 
But  in  the  annals  of  the  Christianity  of  North  England 
Aidan  and  Cuthbert  shine  forth  with  a  radiance  all 
their  own;  and  in  Wycliffe's  day,  when  the  Roman 
Church  had  mastered  the  British  for  only  some  three 
hundred  years,  the  influence  of  these  non-Roman 
saints  was  still  fresh  and  living  and  powerful. 

If  the  purity  and  simplicity  of  the  Faith  proclaimed 
by  Columba  from  Iona  and  by  Aidan  and  Cuthbert 
from  Lindisfarne,  the  holy  isles  on  the  east  and  west 
of  the  mainland,  drew  the  youthful  student  of 
Egglestone  Abbey  to  them  and  the  Columban  Church 
rather  than  to  Rome,  there  was  another  name  and 
influence  in  northern  England  which  must  have 
appealed  to  him  with  even  more  irresistible  force. 
The  Venerable  Bede  of  Jarrow  by  the  Tyne  was  the 
first  to  give  his  native  land  the  gospel  in  the  native 
Anglo-Saxon  tongue.  Csedmon  of  Whitby  at  the 
•  of  the  sixth  century  sang  the  "Creation,"  and 
included  much  scripture  and  scriptural  language  and 
thought  into  the  evangelical  oratorio  which  he  prepared 


6o      WYCLIFFE   AND  THE  LOLLARDS 

in  obedience  to  the  angelic  answer  to  his  question  as 
to  what  he  should  sing,  — "  Sing  the  Creation ! " 
Aldhelm,  abbot  of  Malmesbury,  who  died  a.d.  709, 
translated  the  Psalms  into  the  people's  vernacular. 
There  were  other  "  portions "  of  the  Bible  floating  in 
fragments  amongst  the  people  in  written  vellums  and 
dearly-cherished  scrolls  But  it  was  Bede  who,  in  the 
last  year  of  his  life  (a.d.  735),  translated  St.  John's 
Gospel  into  Anglo-Saxon.  The  scene  of  his  passing  in 
the  monastery  at  Jarrow,  his  urgent  efforts  to  complete 
the  closing  verses  of  the  evangel  even  though  the 
death-sweat  was  on  his  brow  and  the  death-dimness 
on  his  eyes,  has  been  made  for  ever  famous  by  the 
description  of  it  by  his  amanuensis,  who  was  none 
other  than  St.  Cuthbert  himself.  The  last  sentence 
was  in  danger  of  being  lost  in  the  swellings  of  Jordan, 
but  it  was  finished,  and  with  a  "  gloria  in  excelsis  "  the 
first  translator  of  the  Gospel  into  Anglo-Saxon  passed 
into  the  land  of  everlasting  song.  "  Thus  died,"  says 
Fuller,  "  this  light  in  a  dark  place,  and  thus  was  com- 
pleted the  first  English  translation  of  St.  John's  Gospel." 
( Probably  about  the  age  of  sixteen  or  seventeen 
Wycliffe  left  Teesdale,  and  evidently,  through  the 
powerful  influence  of  the  Balliols  of  Barnard  Castle 
near  his  native  village,  he  entered  Balliol  College, 
Oxford,  and  began  that  life  of  studious  repose  which 
was  to  prepare  him  for  his  great  work  of  reform.  The 
close  connection  between  Wycliffe  and  Balliol  College, 
of  which  he  was  finally  Master,  was  undoubtedly  due 
to  the  fact  that  John  Balliol,  father  of  the  King  of 
Scotland,  John  de  Balliol,  was  the  lord  of  Barnard 
Castle,  and  he  himself  founded  the  college  by  the  Isis 
for  poor  Durham  scholars,  as  an  alternative  to  receiving 


WYCLIFFE'S  STUDENT  LIFE  61 

a  flagellation  at  the  doors  of  Durham  Cathedral,  about 
the  year  1265,  thus  adding  a  third  to  the  already- 
existing  Merton  College  (1264)  and  St.  Edmund  Hall 
(1233),  the  earliest  of  all  the  foundations.  John  Balliol 
joined  the  standard  of  Simon  de  Montfort  and  the  rebel 
barons  against  Henry  in.,  and  died  in  exile  in  France 
in  1269.  His  widow,  Devorgilla,  brought  back  his  heart 
to  Scotland,  and  raised  up  over  it  the  charming  Abbey 
of  Sweetheart  or  Newabbey,  some  seven  miles  from 
Dumfries.  The  embalmed  heart,  shrined  in  silver  and 
ivory,  was  carried  about  by  her  while  she  lived,  on  her 
person,  and  at  her  death  in  1289  placed  in  an  aumbry 
near  the  altar  of  the  beautiful  abbey  which  was  the 
outward  token  of  her  affection.  The  other  monu- 
ment to  John  Balliol's  memory  is  Balliol  College,  the 
statutes  of  the  foundation  of  which  were  not  compiled 
until  1282,  thirteen  years  after  the  Founder's  death, 
and  which,  still  carefully  preserved,  bear  the  seal  of 
the  devoted  Devorgilla.  No  college  in  Oxford  is  so  rich 
in  historic  and  scholarly  memories  as  this,  which  has 
given  to  England,  Ireland,  and  the  Colonies,  bishops  and 
archbishops  innumerable.  It  has  been  the  school  of 
Stanley,  Jowett,  Adam  Smith,  Hamilton,  Southey, 
Arnold,  Swinburne,  and  hosts  of  celebrated  thinkers 
and  poets ;  it  is  still  the  special  home  of  students  from 
northern  England  and  Scotland,  as  in  Wycliffe's  day ; 
but  it  has  no  finer  tradition — if,  indeed,  exception  be 
made  of  Cranmer,  Kidley,  and  Latimer,  who  were 
burned  in  front  of  it — than  the  pure-hearted,  earnest- 
souled  student  who  with  many  privations  journeyed 
from  its  Founder's  home  beside  the  Tees  to  fight  a 
good  fight,  and  both  as  student  and  as  Master  bring 
lustre  to  the  name  of  Balliol. 


62      WYCLIFFE  AND  THE  LOLLARDS 

So  few  details  have  been  handed  down  as  to  his 
early  Oxford  days,  that  it  is  extremely  difficult  to  deter- 
mine with  any  approach  to  accuracy  what  his  exact 
course  was.  Some  early  biographers  declare  he  entered 
as  a  commoner  at  Queen's,  founded  in  1340  by  Robert 
de  Egglesfielcl,  chaplain  to  Queen  Philippa,  Edward  iii.'s 
consort,  who  was  a  Cumberland  man ;  and  the  seventy 
poor  scholars  who  were  to  commemorate  the  seventy 
disciples  and  twelve  apostles  of  the  Lord,  were  prefer- 
ably to  come  from  the  North.  Wycliffe  was  almost 
certainly  educated  at  Egglestone  Abbey  in  the  Eggles 
domain,  and  it  is  quite  natural  to  connect  Queen's 
College  with  the  education  of  the  Egglestone  scholar. 
There  can  be  no  doubt  that  Wycliffe  resided  at  Queen's 
at  a  later  period  in  his  university  career ;  but  there  is 
little,  if  anything,  to  show  that  he  had  any  early 
connection  with  the  House  of  the  Boar's  Head,  though 
it  is  undoubted  that  his  later  student  days  were  spent 
there.  Merton  has  claimed  Wycliffe  as  her  own, — a 
college  famous  for  its  ecclesiastical  controversialists, 
— Duns  Scotus,  William  of  Ockham,  and  Thomas 
Bradwardine,  who  afterwards  was  elevated  to  the  See 
of  Canterbury.  Whether  the  last-named  and  Wycliffe 
ever  met  is  doubtful;  but  when  at  Oxford,  Wycliffe 
came  under  the  strong  influence  of  the  writings,  teach- 
ings, and  spirit  of  one  of  the  greatest  and  most  enlight- 
ened of  mediaeval  prelates.  *  Whether  it  was  Balliol, 
Merton,  or  Queen's  College  which  housed  Wycliffe's 
student  life,  at  any  rate  he  so  distinguished  himself 
that  Knighton,  canon  of  Leicester,  his  bitter  foe,  said  of 
him — "  As  a  doctor  in  theology,  Wycliffe  was  the  most 
eminent  in  those  days ;  in  philosophy,  second  to  none ; 
and  in  scholastic  learning,  incomparable.     He  made  it 


WYCLIFFE'S  STUDENT  LIFE  63 

his  great  aim,  with  the  subtilty  of  his  learning  and  by 
the  profundity  of  his  own  genius,  to  surpass  the  genius 
of  other  men,  and  to  vary  from  their  opinions."  ;  From 
his  earliest  days  Wycliffe  seems  like  the  Scottish 
Church  (according  to  Wynton),  "  to  have  loved  a  way 
of  his  own," — to  have  been  an  original,  independent,  and 
fresh  thinker,  bringing  into  the  arena  of  ecclesiastical 
life  a  free  spirit  and  a  bold  intellect. 

Wycliffe  seems  to  have  been  an  earnest  thinker  and 
a  diligent  student,  imbibing  the  principles  of  Aristo- 
telianism,  the  first  system  of  the  age ;  and  in  his  after 
life  he  wielded  with  wonderful  power  the  weapons  of 
logic  and  analysis  with  which  his  early  training  so 
abundantly  supplied  him.  He  was  also  a  careful 
student  of  civil  and  canon  law,  and  to  some  extent  of 
mathematics  and  natural  philosophy.  But  his  guiding 
principle  all  through  was  the  authority  of  Scripture ; 
and  even  from  this  early  period  of  his  career  he  was 
regarded  as  the  "gospel  doctor,"  bringing  everything 
to  the  bar  of  Scripture  and  revelation,  as  against  alike 
the  teachings  of  the  Fathers  and  the  logic  and  meta- 
physics of  the  schools. 

In  the  year  1345  a  remarkable  event  took  place 
which  had  a  definite  and  direct  effect  upon  the  mind  of 
Wycliffe.  A  terrible  plague  broke  out  in  Tartary,  and 
after  ravaging  Asia  and  Lower  Egypt  passed  to  the 
isles  of  Greece,  the  Mediterranean,  and  Italy.  It  spread 
even  beyond  the  Alps,  and  every  European  nation 
suffered  from  its  terrible  ravages.  For  two  years  it 
wrought  its  havoc,  and  this  was  followed  all  over 
Europe  by  a  series  of  earthquakes ;  and  from  June  to 
December  of  1345,  England  was  drenched  with  tremen- 
dous rains.     In  August  the  plague  was  discovered  at 


64      WYCLIFFE  AND  THE  LOLLARDS 

Dorchester  and  then  at  London,  and,  spreading,  claimed 
thousands  as  its  tribute.  Wycliffe  was  twenty-three 
years  old,  and  his  youthful  mind  was  impressed  with 
the  tremendous  epidemic,  which  not  only  cleared 
villages  and  cities  of  their  inhabitants,  but  even  spared 
not  the  beasts  of  the  field.  The  whole  national  life 
suffered,  and  even  grave  level-headed  men  declared 
that  the  world  had  lost  half  its  population.  Over  and 
over  again,  directly  and  indirectly  in  his  works,  he 
refers  to  this  time  of  visitation  and  tremendous  trial. 
The  physical  troubles  led  to  moral  ones,  and  the  whole 
national  character  and  morale  became  deteriorated, — 
husbands  being  deserted  by  wives,  children  by  parents, 
and  the  people  by  the  clergy.  Rapine,  lust,  theft, 
wickedness  of  every  kind  became  rampant.  In  1348 
the  scourge  abated,  but  the  effects  of  it  remained  with 
Wycliffe,  who  ever  after  took  a  grim  and  despairing 
view  of  the  future  of  the  human  race,  which  is  abund- 
antly exhibited  in  his  earliest  work,  published  in  1356 
— eight  years  later — entitled,  The  last  Age  of  the  Church, 
in  which  in  both  a  literal  and  an  allegorical  manner  he 
pictures  what  he  believed  to  be  the  terrors  of  the 
"  last  times,"  of  "  the  pestilence  that  walketh  in  dark- 
ness," and  "  the  arrow  that  flieth  by  day."  He  pictures 
these  disasters  as  acts  of  providential  vengeance  on  the 
evils  of  the  day  and  the  defections  of  the  Church. 
The  strong  early  impression  of  these  national  disasters 
went  with  Wycliffe  all  through  his  life,  as  the  death  of 
his  bosom-friend  did  with  Luther  and  Tennyson,  and 
as  inversely  the  prospects  of  the  arrival  of  the  mil- 
lennial year  A.D.  1000  did  with  the  divines  of  that 
period. 

The  terror  of   the  past  and  the  fear  of   the  future 


WYCLIFFE'S  STUDENT  LIFE  65 

have  ever  been  dominant  forces  in  moulding  individual 
and  national  moral  and  religious  life;  and  while  the 
approaching  close  of  the  first  millennium  stimulated 
Christendom  to  repentance,  reform,  and  service, — 
witness  the  vast  number  of  church  foundations  and 
restorations  which  date  from  A.D.  950  to  1000, — on  the 
other  hand  "the  dismal  and  harrowing  experiences  of 
the  past  have  often  brought  about  the  same  purifying 
and  stimulating  movements.  Without  a  doubt  the 
terrors  of  the  night  and  of  the  day  through  which 
Wycliffe  passed  in  the  time  of  the  plague  and  the  earth- 
quake and  the  flood,  quickened  his  earnestness  and 
deepened  his  purpose.  On  the  other  hand,  they  also 
filled  him  with  more  or  less  of  an  apocalyptic  spirit, 
somewhat  akin  to  that  of  St.  Cyprian,  who  in  his 
dream  saw  the  vast  amphitheatre  crowded  with 
spectators,  and  Satan  appeared  on  the  arena,  and, 
waving  his  hand  around  the  great  belt  of  humanity, 
cried  aloud — "  All  these  are  mine  ! "  Wycliffe  dreamed 
a  similar  dream  at  this  period,  with  similar  effects, — 
the  uprising  of  a  fresh  spirit,  and  the  resurrection  of  a 
new  hope,  desire,  inspiration,  and  purpose.  And  yet 
there  is  a  strong  tinge  of  despair  and  apprehension  in 
The  Last  Age  of  the  Church  strongly  reminiscent  of 
St.  Bernard  of  Clugny's  "  De  Contemptu  Mundi,"  that 
weird  and  wonderful  poem  of  3000  lines  in  which  he 
inveighs  with  bitterness  on  the  corruptions  of  the  age, 
the  decadence  of  civilisation,  and  the  degradation  of 
the  Church,  the  only  speck  of  brightness  in  a  great 
smoky  fog-land  of  invective  being  the  charming  verses 
beginning  "  Jerusalem  the  Golden."  So  Wycliffe's  view, 
a  century  and  a  half  later  than  that  when  the  soul  of 
the  Cluniac  monk  mourned  over  the  sins  of  the  age, 


66      WYCLIFFE  AND  THE  LOLLARDS 

and  longed  for  the  second  advent  of  the  Restorer  of  all 
things,  is  that  all  is  wrong,  and  that  only  the  personal 
return  of  Christ  to  purify  His  House  will  rectify  the 
age.     In  both  of  these  Jeremiahs  there  is  the  comming- 
ling of  the  voice  from  the  cross  with  the  voice  from 
the  skies, — "  consummatum  est,"  and  h  rovrcu  vma<;, — 
despair  as  to  man,  and  yet  hope  as  to  God. 
i    K  In  1360  or  1361,  Wycliffe  became  Master  of  Balliol 
l   Hall,7  after  wards  Balliol  College,  founded  by  the  Balliols 
;  of  Barnard  Castle  near  his  old  home.  *  Ordained  a  priest, 
I  he   was   presented   to   the   rectory   of    Fillingham   in 
I   Lincolnshire,  and  resigned  his  position  at  Balliol,  which 
he  held  for  only  a  short  time. 

But  though  the  rector  of  the  quiet  country  parish 
of  Fillingham,  he  was  a  frequent  visitor  at  Oxford, 
residing  at  Queen's  College  and  prosecuting  his  theo- 
logical studies.  In  1368  he  obtained  from  his  bishop 
leave  of  absence  for  two  years  to  study  at  Oxford. 
Later  on  he  exchanged  Fillingham  for  Ludgarshall  in 
Buckinghamshire,  in  order  to  be  within  nearer  reach 
of  the  seat  of  learning.  } 

While  at  Oxford  he  studied  strenuously,  and  was  an 
active  member  of  the  University  governing  body.  As 
a  Bachelor  of  Theology  he  gave  lectures  on  Holy 
Scripture,  and  even  then  declared  that  this  was  the 
final  standard  of  appeal  in  all  cases  of  controversy. 

In  1365,  Wycliffe  was  appointed  by  Simon  Islip, 
archbishop  of  Canterbury,  who  has  left  his  name  so 
indelibly  associated  with  the  city  by  the  Isis/ Warden 
of  Canterbury  Hall,  a  new  college  just  founded  by 
him  and  absorbed  later  on  in  Christ  Church. )  Islip's 
intention  in  founding  this  college  was  to  provide  a 
home  of  theological   training  for   monks  and  secular 


WYCLIFFE'S  STUDENT  LIFE  67 

clergy  alike,  and  he  gave  Wycliffe  the  appointment  in 
recognition  of  "his  practical  qualifications  of  fidelity, 
circumspection,  and  diligence,  as  well  as  for  his  learn- 
ing and  estimable  life."  Wycliffe  had  been  a  fellow- 
student  of  Islip.  "John  Wicclyve"  appears  as  the 
Warden  of  1365,  his  predecessor,  Woodhall,  a  monk, 
having  been  deposed.  Though  considerable  dispute 
has  been  waged  as  to  whether  this  "  John  Wicclyve " 
was  the  Reformer,  the  balance  of  proof  seems  to  rest 
in  favour  of  the  idea,  though  a  John  de  Whyteclyve 
or  Whytcliff  was  at  Oxford  at  the  same  time,  was 
patronised  by  Archbishop  Islip,  and  presented  by  him 
to  the  living  of  May  field.  It  may  have  been  that  this 
was  the  Warden  of  Merton  and  not  the  other ;  but  on 
the  whole  there  seems  more  evidence  in  favour  of  the 
other  view,  which  would  make  out  that  he  who  was 
afterwards  the  Reformer  was  student  and  Master  of 
Balliol,  Warden  of  Canterbury  Hall,  and  afterwards 
a  resident  at  Queen's  College. 

{ After  the  death  of  Archbishop  Islip,  whose  name 
still  lingers  round  Oxford  and  the  Isis  like  the  breath 
of  the  sweet-briar  in  the  Magdalen  court/  Simon 
Langham,  who  succeeded  him,  removed  Wycliffe  and 
the  secular  teachers  from  Canterbury  Hall  and  gave 
it  back  again  to  the  monastic  brethren,  Wycliffe 
retiring  to  Queen's  College,  where  he  remained  very 
constantly  for  several  years,  taking  his  degree  of 
Doctor  of  Divinity,  and  distinguishing  himself  by  his 
glowing  and  vigorous  preaching.  He  went  by  the 
name  of  "  Doctor  Evangelicus (the  Evangelical  doctor), 
just  as  other  scholastic  divines  were  styled  "  Subtle," 
"  Angelic,"  "  Irrefragable,"  "  Seraphic,"  "  Profound,"  etc. 
Though  Bteeped  in  scholastic  philosophy,  and  drawing 


68      WYCLIFFE  AND  THE  LOLLARDS 

out  his  logical  and  metaphysical  subtleties  in  his  tracts 
and  pamphlets  with  wearisome  exactitude  and  all  the 
deadly  conclusiveness  of  the  old  Deductive  Philosophy, 
when  he  climbed  the  pulpit  he  seems  to  have  rid  himself 
of  Aristotelian  mists  and  the  brain-webs  of  the  mediaeval 
Schoolmen,  and  to  have  declared  the  divine  word  and  the 
holy  gospel  with  a  magnificent  freshness  and  a  simple 
clearness  and  directness  which  were  irresistible.  In  an 
age  when,  through  the  pulpit  excesses  and  absurdities 
of  the  friars,  preaching  had  degenerated  into  either 
drivel  or  buffoonery,  the  Evangelical  doctor  refreshed 
the  heart  of  students  and  people  alike  by  a  fresh  dis- 
closure of  the  Person  of  Christ  and  His  sufficiency  for 
the  needs  of  the  soul  of  man...--¥iras  from  his  earliest 
days  as  a  student,  Wycliffe  seems  to  have  aimed  at 
the  restoration  of  a  plain  and  simple  evangel,  ardently 
proclaimed  by  direct  and  homely  sermons,  while  at  the 
same  time  cultivating  in  his  own  life  and  habit  the 
most  scholarly  and  laborious  methods.  Great  as  a 
preacher  of  the  evangel  in  nervous  English  and  with 
impassioned  power,  he  was  even  greater  as  a  subtle 
doctor  of  the  Church  and  a  learned  exponent  of  the 
Faith. 


CHAPTER   IV 

Tiara  and  Crown 

By  the  close  of  the  thirteenth  century  the  position  of 
the  Roman  See  was  finally  established.  Protest  after 
protest  had  been  raised  against  the  assumptions  of  the 
Bishop  of  Rome.  The  Greek  Church  had  long  since 
established  its  independent  and  rival  organisation  in 
the  East,  and  raised  a  vast  ecclesiastical  edifice  which 
denied  the  Pontiff  entrance  and  recognition.  Minor 
protests  came  from  France  and  Germany  and  even 
from  Italy.  But  the  logical  movement  had  to  develop. 
Having  established  the  position  of  the  Roman  Pontiff 
as  St.  Peter's  direct  and  only  representative  and  Vicar, 
and  claimed  for  him  a  special  divine  voice,  the  subse- 
quent developments  were  almost  a  necessity ;  and  the 
latter-day  development  of  doctrine  as  explained  by 
Cardinal  Newman  left  no  other  course  open  than 
finally  to  announce  the  decree  of  papal  infallibility 
as  declared  in  the  famous  announcement  from  the 
Pope  in  1870  :  "  We,  firmly  adhering  to  the  tradition 
received  from  the  commencement  of  the  Christian  re- 
ligion to  the  glory  of  God  our  Saviour,  the  exaltation 
of  the  Christian  religion,  and  the  salvation  of  Christian 
people,  with  the  approval  of  the  Sacred  Council,  teach 
and  define  it  as  a  doctrine  revealed  of  God  that  the 
Roman  Pontiff  when  he  speaks  ex  cathedra,  or  when 

69 


70      WYCLIFFE  AND  THE  LOLLARDS 

in  the  exercise  of  the  office  of  pastor  and  teacher  of 
all  Christians,  he  defines  by  his  supreme  apostolic 
authority  any  doctrine  of  faith  or  manners,  ought  to 
be  considered  by  the  whole  Church  as  possessing, 
through  the  divine  assistance  promised  to  him  in  the 
blessed  Peter,  that  infallibility  which  the  Divine 
Redeemer  chose  to  furnish  to  the  Church  when 
defining  any  doctrine  of  faith  or  manners,  and  that 
such  definitions  are  of  themselves  unchangeable.  If 
anyone,  which  may  the  Lord  forbid,  should  dare  to 
contradict  this  our  definition :  let  him  be  anathema." 

After  such  a  definition,  not  only  of  papal  supremacy 
but  of  papal  infallibility,  one  can  well  understand  and 
appreciate  the  mild  protest  of  the  Greek  bishops  who 
republished  the  canons  of  the  first  seven  oecumenic 
Synods, — the  seven  councils  before  the  great  schism 
between  East  and  West, — when  they  declared  in  the 
preface  to  the  Book  of  Canons  that  "  considering  the 
long  period  which  has  elapsed  and  the  great  alteration 
of  circumstances  which  has  taken  place  in  the  West 
since  the  schism,  we  need  a  line  of  demarcation  between 
those  rules  which  it  is  now  possible  to  enforce  in  or- 
thodox Western  Churches  and  those,  however  venerable, 
which  it  is  expedient  not  to  insist  upon.  It  would  be 
arbitrary  to  trace  this  line  of  demarcation  anywhere, 
except  where  the  Holy  Spirit  through  the  Catholic 
Church  has  already  traced  it,  that  is,  between  the 
canons  of  the  seven  oecumenic  councils  and  all  other 
regulations." 

Papal  pretension,  exclusiveness,  and  pride  were  at 
the  root  of  the  great  schism,  .and  it  was  against  the 
same  evils  that  the  early  Reformers  struck.  Pope 
Gregory   vii.   carried   these    pretensions   to   a   height 


TIARA  AND  CROWN  71 

when  he  kept  Henry  iv.  of  Germany  outside  in  the 
snow  at  Canossa  till  he  had  been  thoroughly  humiliated. 
"  Germany,"  said  Prince  Bismarck  in  one  of  his  famous 
sentences  in  the  Reichstag,  "is  not  going  back  to 
Canossa  either  bodily  or  spiritually"  (Jack's  Life  of 
Bismarck,  p.  386),  and  followed  up  Pius  ix.'s  slight  to 
the  German  Parliament  in  refusing  to  accept  Cardinal 
Prince  Hohenlohe  as  German  Ambassador  at  Rome,  by 
expelling  the  Jesuits,  limiting  the  Church's  powers  of 
punishment  and  discipline  and  organisation, — the  four 
"  May  Laws  "  which  amazed  the  world  and  brought  to 
an  end  all  thought  of  the  Pope  overshadowing  the 
King  in  Germany  at  any  rate.  In  England,  Henry  11., 
powerful  and  able  King  as  he  was,  had  to  submit  to 
humiliating  discipline  at  Canterbury  Cathedral  before 
the  shrine  of  Thomas  a  Becket.  These  two  well- 
punished  Henrys  are  not  the  only  instances  in  which 
the  papal  rod  was  applied  to  royal  persons  on  dis- 
obedience to  the  Vatican  decrees.  The  theory  had 
come  to  be  accepted  as  correct  and  right  that  the 
great  Soul-Father  at  Rome  was  above  all  kings,  and 
sovereign  of  sovereigns. 

The  epoch  of  Boniface  vm.  (1294-1304)  marks  the 
decline  of  papal  ascendancy.  Germany  during  the 
period  of  interregnum  after  the  death  of  Frederic 
11.  in  1250,  refused  the  interference  of  the  papacy, 
and  its  claim  to  have  a  divine  right  over  sovereigns. 
France  under  Philip  the  Fair  took  an  independent 
national  stand,  and  England  under  Edward  I.  did  the 
ie.  The  latter  was  in  a  position  of  exceptional 
difficulty,  for  the  tribute  which  a  hundred  and  fifty 
years  before  King  John  had  promised  the  Pope  in 
token  of  the  vassalage  of  England  to  the  Roman  See 


72      WYCLIFFE  AND  THE  LOLLARDS 

was  still  being  paid.  It  is  an  easy  thing  to  pass  an 
Act  of  Oblivion  when  it  proves  suitable  and  politic, 
and  to  declare  that  properties  diverted  at  the  Reforma- 
tion from  sacred  to  secular  purposes  shall  be  allowed 
to  remain  in  their  present  tenants'  hands  under  the 
circumstances  of  the  present  day,  and  that  the  Roman 
See  no  longer  makes  claim  to  England;  but  every 
Roman  canonist  knows  full  well  that  by  Canon  Law 
England  is  the  property  of  the  Roman  See.  But  even 
although  King  John  had  given  his  little  rocky  island 
in  the  north-west  of  Europe  to  the  Pope  in  a  present, 
there  was  enough  national  feeling  left  to  face  several 
papal  abuses.  When  Boniface  by  his  Bull  "  Clericis 
laicos"  forbade  the  exaction  of  national  taxes  and 
revenues  from  the  Church  revenues,  Edward's  plucky 
and  vigorous  refusal  to  submit  to  Italian  dictation 
showed  the  growth  of  independent  national  feeling. 
Even  the  papal  tribute  was  usually  very  tardily  paid 
and  always  in  arrear ;  and  Wycliffe  wrote  a  State  paper 
about  it ;  and  finally  the  English  Parliament  repudiated 
it,  and  the  Pope  got  no  more. 

In  France  the  light  between  Crown  and  Tiara  was, 
however,  on  a  larger  and  more  important  scale.  The 
same  demand  had  been  made  by  the  Pope  as  in  England, 
and  the  Bull  required  that  the  Church  and  clergy  should 
be  free  of  national  taxation.  Philip  the  Fair  openly 
refused  to  exempt  the  Church,  and  carried  the  French 
people  with  him  ;  and,  in  addition,  expelled  the  clergy 
from  all  posts  connected  with  the  administration  of  the 
country's  laws,  and  appointed  secular  lawyers  in  their 
places.  The  Faculty  of  Law  was  then  in  amazing  power 
in  France,  and  was  in  opposition  to  the  Pope,  and  edu- 
cated the  French  people  on  national  law  and  patriotism, 


TIARA  AND  CROWN  73 

One  difference,  however,  between  the  English  and 
the  French  clergy  lay  in  this,  that  whereas  the  former 
were  generally  blindly  loyal  and  obedient  to  the 
Roman  See,  the  Gallican  priests  prided  themselves,  as 
from  yore  they  did  and  even  yet  to  some  small  extent 
still  do,  on  their  independence  and  national  privileges, 
and  consequently  the  mass  of  them  sided  with  Philip 
the  Fair  as  against  the  Pope.  In  1301,  Boniface 
declared  to  Philip  in  a  Bull  that  he  had  France  from 
his  hand  and  during  his  pleasure,  just  as  a  previous 
Pope  had  done  to  the  English  King  John,  and  required 
Philip  to  appear  in  Rome  before  a  council.  At  Paris 
the  Bull  was  burned  publicly,  and  in  April  1302  the 
King  and  Estates  General  met  and  drew  up  a  remon- 
strance to  the  Pope  and  cardinals.  The  Pope  replied 
by  his  famous  Bull  "  Unam  Sanctam,"  which  declared 
the  supremacy  of  the  Pope  over  all  Christian  kings. 
The  Bull  "Clericis  Laicos"  merely  asked  immunity 
from  taxation  for  his  Church ;  "  Unam  Sanctam  "  put 
the  papal  See  into  a  position  of  authority  over  all 
crowns,  which  the  Bull  "  Venerabilem  "  of  Innocent  in. 
confirmed, — the  claim  being  made  that  "all  things 
are  put  under  him,"  as  representing  the  Founder  of 
Christianity.  A  friendly  conference  between  Rome 
and  France  was  tried  but  without  avail ;  and,  not  to  be 
outdone  in  greatness  by  the  Fisherman's  successor, 
Philip,  who  seems  to  have  been  fair  not  only  in 
appearance  but  also  in  his  judgment  as  well  as  not 
behind  in  the  fighting  qualities  indicated  by  his  name, 
summoned  His  Holiness  to  Paris,  and  before  the  Estates 
General  threatened  to  have  a  general  council  gathered 
in  Paris  to  depose  Boniface  from  his  See.  Seven 
hundred  of  the  university  bishops,  clergy,  friars  signed 


74      WYCLIFFE  AND  THE  LOLLARDS 

the  appeal.  French  emissaries  were  sent  to  Rome, 
and  at  Anagni,  where  Boniface  was  residing,  hiring 
soldiers  from  the  rival  town  of  Ferentino,  they  attacked 
the  Pope  and  cardinals.  For  some  days  His  Holiness 
was  imprisoned,  rescued  only  by  an  army  from  Rome ; 
but  the  shock  was  too  great  for  an  aged  Pontiff  of 
eighty-six,  and  one  of  the  oldest  in  the  long  line  of 
"bridge-makers,"  and  he  died  of  fever  or  madness. 
The  Roman  Chair  was,  however,  thoroughly  humili- 
ated, and  France  was  victorious ;  and,  finally,  after 
Benedict  xi.'s  short  reign,  through  its  influence  and 
power  a  French  Pope,  Clement  v.,  was  elected,  and  to 
please  France  moved  the  Holy  See  from  Rome  to 
Avignon,  where,  during  the  period  described  by  Roman 
historians  as  the  "  Babylonian  Captivity,"  it  remained 
for  more  than  seventy  years — until  1736.  The  palace 
of  the  Popes  at  Avignon  still  stands,  grey  and  gloomy, 
overlooking  one  of  the  most  fertile  districts  of  France, 
and  surmounted  by  a  colossal  gold  statue  of  the  Virgin ; 
just  as  at  Marseilles,  a  little  farther  south,  on  the 
summit  of  the  lofty  Church  of  Notre  Dame  de  la 
Garde,  overlooking  the  Mediterranean,  there  gleams 
the  great  gilded  Virgin  holding  in  her  arms  a 
colossal  child-Christ,  who  lifts  up  His  hands  in  bless- 
ing over  the  blue  sea  and  the  moving  fleets  of  the 
world. 

The  Pope  at  Avignon  became,  however,  for  the  most 
part  only  a  creature  of  the  French  Court,  and  the 
jealousy  of  Germany,  England,  and  other  nations  was 
excited  by  the  position  of  the  Pontiff.  When  the 
great  schism  took  place,  and  there  was  a  Pope  at 
Avignon  and  one  at  Rome,  and  even  a  third,  it  became 
a  national  question  as  to  which  nation  was  to  be  the 


TIARA  AND  CROWN  75 

nominator  and  guardian  of  the  head  of  the  Church. 
The  schism  came  to  an  end,  but  the  religious  feelings 
of  Christendom  were  outraged  to  see  the  head  of  the 
Church  divided.  The  great  and  magnificent  idea  of 
one  supreme  spiritual  head  for  the  world  was  shattered, 
and  shattered  for  ever,  by  the  divided  papacy. 

The  assumptions  and  claims  of  the  Popes  prior  to 
the  great  schism  were  indeed  many  and  great.  As 
Vicar  of  Christ,  the  Pope  claimed  the  right  of  summon- 
ing general  councils  alone,  whereas  formerly  Pope  and 
Emperor  did  so  conjointly.  He  alone  had  in  his 
hands  to  present  the  pallium  woven  of  the  lambs'- wool 
shorn  off  by  the  Roman  sisters  on  St.  Agnes  Eve :  for 
this  the  Roman  See  received  the  most  important  part 
of  its  revenue,  and  frequent  changes  meant  heavier 
sums  for  the  papal  exchequer.  John  xxii.  was  a 
master  of  finance  in  this  way.  The  Churches  of 
Christendom  had  been  supposed  to  have  freedom  of 
election  of  their  own  prelates,  but  this  freedom  degener- 
ated into  a  farce.  Appeals  from  various  parts  of 
Christendom  were  more  and  more  encouraged,  and  the 
Papal  Curia  came  to  be  regarded  as  the  supreme 
judgment-seat  of  the  world;  but,  unfortunately,  the 
Roman  Court  was  universally  suspected  of  partiality  and 
corruption.  The  Pope's  universal  power  of  absolution 
and  dispensation — the  "  plenitudo  potestatios,"  made  of 
no  account  all  other  decisions  sacred  and  secular.  The 
right  of  the  Roman  See  to  exact  taxation  from  all  the 
Churches  of  Christendom  was  oppressively  carried  out. 
For  two  and  a  half  centuries  papal  legates  were  sent 
to  various  countries  to  exercise  all  kinds  of  commis- 
sions, overriding  all  local  authority.  The  Canon  Law 
had  also  been  gradually  summarised  and  codified,  and 


76      WYCLIFFE  AND  THE  LOLLARDS 

the  Isidorian  Decretals  were  accepted,  although  well 
known  to  be  a  forgery.  And  apart  from  the  serene 
and  absolute  authority  of  the  Roman  See,  every  prelate, 
whether  a  native  of  the  country  or  a  foreigner,  was 
subjected  to  entire  obedience  to  Rome,  and  he  in  turn 
was  obliged  to  take  the  oath  of  absolute  and  blind 
allegiance  to  the  Holy  See. 

In  a  word,  the  whole  of  Christendom  had  gradually 
become  bound  hand  and  foot,  heart  and  head,  in  a  gigantic 
organisation,  every  part  of  which  was  supposed  to  move 
in  entire  obedience  to  the  head  of  the  Church  whose 
home  was  at  Tiber-side.  After  Boniface  vm.  the 
whole  system  broke  down ;  but  the  plan  of  a  gigantic 
Rome  government  had  almost  finally  triumphed,  had 
it  not  been  for  the  failure  of  the  central  figure.  The 
Roman  idea  of  universal  spiritual  rule  in  succession  to 
the  old  imperial  secular  idea  accounts  for  the  vigour  of 
Milton's  description  of  the  Roman  power,  which,  he  says, 
"  is  a  double  thing  to  deal  with,  and  claims  a  twofold 
power,  ecclesiastical  and  political,  both  usurped,  and 
the  one  supporting  the  other."  Well  may  Adam 
Smith,  in  speaking  of  the  Church  of  Rome,  say  it  "  is 
the  most  formidable  combination  that  ever  was 
formed  against  the  authority  and  security  of  civil 
government,  as  well  as  against  the  liberty,  reason, 
and  happiness  of  mankind."  The  late  John  Angel 
James  truly  said  that  its  nature  was  "  but  a  mixture 
of  the  craft  of  the  serpent  with  the  ferocity  of  the 
tiger."  "  How  often,  says  he,  "  does  it  conceal  a 
demon's  malignity  under  a  seraph's  smile." 

If,  indeed,  the  claim  of  the  Pope  of  Rome  is  that  his 
descent  from  the  apostles  is  exclusive,  direct,  and  un- 
doubted, then,  judging  from  the  characters  of  many  of 


TIARA  AND  CROWN  77 

the  occupants  of  the  See,  it  must  in  all  faithfulness  be 
admitted  that  the  descent  is  very  great.  Since  St.  Peter 
there  have  been  297  Popes,  of  whom  24  were  anti- 
Popes,  and  one — Pope  Joan — was  probably  a  woman. 
Nineteen  Popes  abandoned  Rome,  and  35  reigned 
abroad.  Eight  Popes  only  reigned  a  month  or  less, 
40  reigned  a  year,  22  for  two  years,  54  for  five 
years,  51  for  fifteen  years,  18  for  twenty  years,  and 
9  for  a  longer  period.  Of  all  this  long  line  of  "  Vicars 
of  Christ,"  31  were  officially  declared  to  be  heretics 
or  usurpers ;  and  of  the  266  remaining  Pontiffs,  64 
came  to  a  violent  end,  18  by  poison  and  4  by  strangu- 
lation. Apart  altogether  from  the  Popes  who  spoke 
the  infallible  voice  from  Avignon,  26  others  were 
deposed,  expelled  from  Rome,  and  banished.  Six  of 
the  Holy  Fathers,  in  spite  of  their  vows  had  children ; 
while  John  viil,  the  successor  of  Leo  iv.,  was,  on  the 
direct  testimony  of  Roman  Catholic  writers,  a  woman, 
though  absolute  certainty  is  unattainable.  She  is 
said  to  have  been  of  English  descent  though  born  at 
Mentz,  and  obtained  the  See  by  sinister  arts,  pre- 
tending she  was  a  man.  The  Nuremberg  Chronicle 
of  1493,  written  by  Roman  Catholics  twenty-four  years 
before  Luther's  Reformation  began,  tells  the  entire  tale ; 
while  Roman  Catholic  wits  like  the  Carmelite  friar 
Mantuaw,  made  epigrams  and  witticisms  regarding  the 
unfortunate  slip  in  the  moral  way — "a  very  little 
one  " — which  "  Pope  Joan  "  made,  and  in  the  ending  of 
which  she  died : 

"Papa  pater  patrum  peperit  papissa  papellum." 

Urban  v.  confessed  his  fallibility,  and  allowed 
himself    to    be   censured    by   a    council;   while   both 


78      WYCLIFFE  AND  THE  LOLLARDS 

Victor  in.  and  Adrian  VI.  publicly  acknowledged  that 
they  had  sinned.  One  Holy  Father  declared  himself 
an  atheist,  and  denied  the  immortality  of  the  soul. 
Ranke's  History  of  tJw  Popes,  and  even  the  records 
of  Roman  Catholic  historians  themselves,  like  Lingard 
and  Platina,  bear  abundant  testimony  to  exceedingly 
frequent  and  sometimes  most  alarming  absences  of  the 
Holy  Spirit  from  the  papal  chair.  The  history  of  the 
Popes  is  the  story  of  throned  and  crowned  humanity 
with  a  spiritual  aureole  round  its  head,  and  glorified 
above  ordinary  earthly  sovereigns  with  the  halos  of 
another  world ;  and  yet  this  is  all  that  it  amounts  to 
and  all  that  it  could  accomplish.  The  world  and  the 
Church  generally  have  been  thankful  if  they  have 
been  fairly  decent  in  their  characters  and  moderately 
just  in  their  dealings;  no  more  was  expected,  and  glad 
have  they  been  even  for  such  small  mercies. 

After  his  return  from  Rome  in  January  1875,  the 
late  Cardinal  Manning  preached  in  Kensington  Pro- 
Cathedral  from  the  text — "  Mine  eyes  have  seen  the 
King  in  His  beauty,"  and  somewhat  profanely  applied 
the  text  to  himself  as  having  just  returned  from  a 
sight  of  and  a  visit  to  worthy  old  Pio  Nono.  "At 
this  moment,"  he  declared,  "  the  throne  of  the  Vicar  of 
Christ  is  surrounded  by  his  most  inveterate  enemies. 
Humanly-speaking,  the  glory  of  the  apostolic  throne 
has  departed,  and  its  majesty  and  power  have  been 
overthrown  by  the  world.  At  such  a  moment  we  are 
reminded  of  the  words  of  the  text ; — we  shall  see  the 
glory  of  the  Vicar  of  Christ  yet  again  with  all  its 
prerogatives."  If  the  reference  was  merely  to  the 
material  glory  and  glitter  of  the  Papal  Court  and 
States,  which  Victor  Emmanuel  and  the  Italian  people 


TIARA  AND  CROWN  79 

saw  fit  to  reduce,  and  which  Garibaldi's  sword  sent  to 
the  four  winds,  one  can  agree  with  the  preacher  or 
not  according  to  the  measure  of  prophecy  given  to  us. 
But  if  his  reference  was  to  the  moral  and  spiritual 
power  of  the  occupants  of  the  Roman  See  in  past  ages, 
one  can  only  smile  gently  at  the  thought  of  some  of 
the  "  beauties  "  who  have  adorned  the  Chair  in  genera- 
tions past. 

The  oath  taken  by  bishop  and  priest  of  allegiance  to 
the  Holy  See  is  suggestive : 

"  I,  N.  Elect  of  the  Church  of  N.,  will  from  this  hour 
forth  be  faithful  and  obedient  to  the  blessed  Apostle 
Peter,  to  the  holy  Roman  Church,  and  to  our  Lord,  Lord 
N.  Pope  N.  and  to  his  successors  canonically  entering. 
I  will  not  be  of  any  counsel,  by  consent  or  deed,  to 
deprive  them  of  life  or  limb,  or  to  ensnare  them  by 
any  deceit  or  fraud,  or  to  lay  violent  hands  upon  them 
in  any  way  whatever;  or  to  offer  them  any  injury 
under  any  pretence  whatever.  Moreover,  any  counsel 
which  they  may  entrust  to  me,  either  in  their  own 
persons  or  by  their  messengers  or  letters,  I  will  disclose 
to  no  one,  knowingly,  to  their  hurt. 

"  The  Roman  Popedom  and  the  royalties  of  St.  Peter, 
I  shall  help  them  to  retain  and  defend,  saving  my  own 
order,  against  every  man.  The  legate  of  the  Apostolic 
See,  in  passing  and  repassing,  I  shall  honourably 
entertain,  and  assist  in  his  necessities.  The  rights, 
honours,  privileges,  and  authority  of  the  holy  Roman 
•  rch,  of  our  Lord  the  Pope,  and  his  successors 
aforesaid,  I  slicdl  give  all  diligence  to  preserve,  defend, 
advance,  and  promote.  Nor  will  I  be  of  any  counsel, 
undertaking,  or  management  whereby  anything 
sinister  may  itrived  against  our  said  Lord,  or 


80      WYCLIFFE  AND  THE  LOLLARDS 

the  said  Roman  Church,  or  whereby  anything  pre- 
judicial to  their  person s.  rights,  honour,  state,  or  power 
may  be  plotted.  And  if  I  shall  discover  that  such 
be  done  by  others,  whosoever  they  be,  or  by  their 
procurement,  I  shall  hinder  the  same  to  the  utmost  of 
my  power ;  and  as  soon  as  possible  signify  it  to  our 
said  Lord,  or  to  some  other  who  shall  inform  him 
thereof. 

"  The  rules  of  the  Holy  Fathers,  the  Apostolic  decrees 
and  ordinances  or  appointments,  reservations,  provisions, 
and  mandates,  I  will  observe  with  all  my  might,  and 
cause  to  be  observed  by  others.  Heretics,  schismatics, 
and  rebels  against  the  same  our  Lord  and  his  suc- 
cessors, I  WILL  PERSECUTE  AND  IMPUGN  TO  THE  UTMOST 
of  my  power.  When  summoned  to  Synod  I  will  obey, 
unless  prevented  by  some  canonical  impediment.  I 
will  visit  the  thresholds  of  the  Apostles  every  third 
year,  in  my  own  person,  and  render  to  our  said  Lord, 
and  his  successors,  an  account  of  my  whole  pastoral 
office,  and  of  every  particular  in  any  way  whatever 
relating  to  the  state  of  my  church,  to  the  discipline  of 
my  clergy  and  people,  and,  in  short,  to  the  salvation 
of  the  souls  committed  to  my  charge:  and  I  will 
humbly  receive  and  execute,  with  the  utmost  diligence, 
the  Apostolic  mandates  given  in  reply  to  the  same. 
But  if  I  shall  be  hindered  by  any  legitimate  impedi- 
ment from  doing  so  in  person,  I  will  discharge  all  the 
aforesaid  duties  by  a  trusty  messenger,  selected  from 
the  bosom  of  my  own  chapter,  and  commissioned  for 
this  special  purpose,  or  by  some  other  church  dignitary, 
or  otherwise  exalted  person;  or,  these  failing  me,  by 
a  diocesan  priest;  or,  a  clergy  altogether  failing  me, 
by  some  other  presbyter,  secular  or  regular,  of  known 


TIARA  AND  CROWN  81 

probity  and  religion,  and  fully  instructed  in  all  the 
aforesaid  particulars.  But  of  such  impediment  I  will 
give  certificates  by  lawful  proofs,  to  be  transmitted  by 
the  same  messenger,  to  the  holy  Roman  Church's 
Cardinal  President  of  the  Congregation  of  Sacred 
Synod:  moreover,  the  possessions  belonging  to  my 
mense  I  shall  neither  sell,  nor  bestow,  nor  mortgage, 
nor  hurt  in  any  way." 

The  theory  of  the  Church  of  Rome,  which  had  now 
overspread  the  whole  of  Europe,  ousted  the  native  and 
aboriginal  branches  of  the  Catholic  Church,  and  imposed 
her  ritual  and  priesthood  on  all  the  lands  of  European 
Christendom,  not  indeed  without  long  and  severe  yet 
unsuccessful  struggle  on  their  part, — her  theory  was 
that  kings  and  queens  should  be  the  Christian's  servants, 
and  should  do  the  bidding  of  the  Church's  head, 
St.  Peter's  successor,  Christ's  Vicar,  the  Roman  Pontiff, 
whose  Bulls  and  briefs,  thundered  from  the  Chair  of 
Peter's  at  Rome,  were  theoretically  infallible  and 
practically  omnipotent  to  the  ends  of  the  earth. 

The  dawn  of  Christianity  found  the  Church  a  weak- 
ling, hardly  able  to  bear  up  under  the  fire  of  persecu- 
tion and  the  blight  of  obloquy ;  but  years  brought  her 
strength,  and  having  lived  through  and  lived  down  three 
centuries  of  such  persecution  as  has  never  been  equalled 
in  any  age  and  in  any  country,  she  at  last  by  sheer 
importunity  and  longlivedness  won  the  approving  word 
of  the  Roman  Emperor,  and  Constantine  put  the  cross 
upon  his  crown,  and  was  proud  to  be  called  a  servant 
of  the  Crucified.  Tables  were  now  turned ;  and,  con- 
ns of  growing  influence,  the  Church  began  to  assume 
powers  and  privileges  which  she  never  even  dreamt 
of  claiming  before.  The  fourth  century  found  her 
6 


82      WYCLIFFE  AND  THE  LOLLARDS 

dominant,  and  her  prelates  taking  rank  before  the  very- 
princes  of  the  blood :  the  splendour  of  episcopal  robes 
and  retinues  and  residence  eclipsed  those  of  kings 
and  emperors.  In  the  fourth  century  we  find  St. 
Ambrose  excommunicating  a  Eoman  Emperor,  and  by 
the  power  of  the  keys  refusing  him  admission  to  the 
sacred  rites  of  Holy  Communion.  A  century  or  two  later, 
and  Pope  Hildebrand  asserts  the  absolute  supremacy  of 
the  Roman  See  over  all  others,  and  formulates  that 
High  Ultramontane  doctrine — that  principle  of  the 
perfect  independence  and  sovereignty  of  the  Church, — 
of  its  right  to  direct  and  guide  the  State, — and  of  the 
latter's  obligation  to  protect  and  defend  and  aggrandise 
her — which  is  to-day  the  strength  and  the  weakness 
of  the  Church  of  Rome,  and  which  every  day  sees  her 
asserting  more  strongly  and  more  dogmatically. 

During  the  dark  and  Middle  Ages,  all  cases  of  dispute 
in  whatever  part  of  Christendom — whether  between 
nation  and  nation,  prince  and  prince,  king  and  subject, 
the  Church  and  the  world — were  referred  to  Rome  as 
to  a  final  court  of  appeal,  and  her  decisions  were  uni- 
versally accepted, — her  voice  was  the  last  in  every  dis- 
cussion,— her  judgment  carried  the  day  and  closed  the 
case.  History  tells  us  of  one  Pope  actually  compelling 
a  certain  King  to  recall  his  Queen  whom  he  had  divorced 
and  outlawed;  and  everyone  knows  how  a  century  or 
two  later,  at  Canossa,  the  Roman  Pontiff,  having  excom- 
municated the  whole  of  Germany  for  disobeying  his 
orders,  kept  the  Emperor  standing  barefooted  in  the 
snow,  without  a  single  attendant,  clad  in  nothing  save 
a  sackcloth  robe,  for  three  whole  days, — till  it  pleased 
His  Holiness  to  grant  him  an  audience ;  and,  having 
chastised   him   with   a  scourge  of   knotted  cords,   to 


TIARA  AND  CROWN  83 

release  him  and  his  Empire  from  the  ban  under  which 
they  had  been  placed.  The  story  of  that  humiliating 
insult  to  Imperial  Majesty  has  not  died  away  even  yet, 
for  nothing  pleased  Prince  Bismarck  better  than  to 
retaliate  by  oppressing  the  Roman  Catholic  prelates  of 
Germany  by  the  "  Falk  Laws,"  and  to  declare  in  their 
teeth  that  "  Germany  is  not  going  back  to  Canossa." 

We  can  afford  at  this  time  of  day  to  smile  at  the  high- 
flown  assumption  of  authority  and  importance  which 
characterises  the  occupants  of  the  Roman  See :  to-day 
we  need  not  care  very  much  whether  the  Pope  bans  us 
or  blesses  us :  he  may  do  either  according  to  his  own 
sweet  will:  we  shall  not  be  much  the  better  for  the 
one  or  much  the  worse  for  the  other.  But  it  was  very 
different  in  mediaeval  times:  the  excommunication  of 
an  individual  meant  isolation,  detestation,  neglect, 
perhaps  even  death :  the  excommunication  of  a  country 
meant  that  for  months  or  years  no  religious  services 
were  held,  no  church  bells  were  ever  rung,  no  church 
doors  ever  opened,  no  priests  ever  seen :  the  life  and 
the  soul  of  the  nation  seemed  utterly  gone; — so 
dependent  was  society  on  the  presence  and  assistance 
of  Holy  Church. 

The  papal  ban  in  the  Middle  Ages  was  no  light  affair, 
whether  applied  to  the  individual,  the  family,  or  the 
nation.  For  a  nation  to  be  excommunicated  was  the 
mast  dreadful  of  calamities,  as  both  Germany  and 
England  had  good  cause  to  know.  During  the  excom- 
munication of  King  John  and  his  kingdom  for  rebellion 
against  the  Pope,  no  church  bell  rang,  no  church  door 
was  opened,  infants  were  unbaptized,  the  dead  buried 
in  holes  without  a  prayer,  the  statues  and  pictures  of 
the  saints  were  veiled  in  black,  and  their  relics  laid  in 


84       WYCLIFFE  AND  THE  LOLLARDS 

penitential  ashes  on  the  altar  slabs.  The  year  of  the 
papal  interdict  in  England — a.d.  1208,  followed  by  a 
Bull  of  excommunication,  was  a  memorable  one  for 
England.  The  form  of  the  Pope's  most  dreadful  curse 
which  John  brought  down  upon  himself  can  still  be 
seen  in  the  ledger-book  of  Rochester  Cathedral,  in  the 
custody  of  the  Dean  and  Chapter,  written  out  by 
Bishop  Ernulphus : 

"  By  the  authority  of  God  Almighty,  the  Father,  Son, 
and  Holy  Ghost,  and  of  the  holy  canons,  and  of  the 
undefiled  Virgin  Mary,  the  mother  and  patroness  of 
our  Saviour,  and  of  all  the  celestial  virtues,  angels, 
archangels,  throngs,  dominions,  powers,  cherubims  and 
seraphims,  and  of  the  holy  patriarchs,  prophets,  and 
of  all  the  apostles  and  evangelists,  and  of  the  holy 
innocents,  who  in  the  sight  of  the  Lamb  are  found 
worthy  to  sing  the  new  song,  of  the  holy  martyrs  and 
holy  confessors  and  of  the  holy  virgins,  and  of  all  the 
saints,  and  together  with  the  holy  and  elect  of  God : 
we  excommunicate  and  anathematise  him  or  them, 
malefactor  or  malefactors,  and  from  the  threshold  of 
the  holy  Church  of  God  Almighty  we  sequester  them 
that  he  or  they  may  be  tormented,  disposed  and  delivered 
over  with  Dathan  and  Abiram,  and  with  those  who  say 
unto  the  Lord  God,  '  Depart  from  us,  we  desire  not  to 
know  Thy  ways/  and  as  fire  is  quenched  with  water,  so 
let  the  light  of  him  or  them  be  put  out  for  evermore, 
unless  it  shall  repent  him  or  them  and  they  make 
satisfaction.     Amen. 

"  May  the  Father  who  created  man,  curse  him  or  them. 
May  the  Son  who  suffered  for,  us,  curse  him  or  them. 
May  the  Holy  Ghost  who  was  given  to  us  in  baptism, 
curse  him  or  them.     May  the  Holy  and  Eternal  Virgin 


TIARA  AND  CROWN  85 

Mary,  mother  of  God,  curse  him  or  them.  May  St. 
Michael  the  advocate  of  holy  souls,  curse  him  or  them. 
May  all  the  angels  and  archangels,  principalities  and 
powers,  and  all  the  heavenly  host,  curse  him  or  them. 
May  the  band  or  the  members  of  the  patriarchs 
and  prophets,  curse  him  or  them.  May  St.  John  the 
chief  forerunner  and  baptist  of  Christ,  curse  him  or 
them.  May  St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul  and  St.  Andrew  and 
all  others  Christ's  apostles,  together  with  the  rest  of  the 
disciples  and  four  evangelists,  who  by  their  preaching 
converted  the  universal  world,  curse  him  or  them. 
May  the  holy  and  wonderful  company  of  martyrs  and 
confessors,  who  by  their  holy  works  are  found  pleasing 
to  God  Almighty,  curse  him  or  them.  May  the  holy 
choir  of  the  Holy  Virgins,  who  for  the  honour  of 
Christ  has  despised  the  things  of  the  world,  curse  him 
or  them.  May  all  the  saints,  who  from  the  beginning 
of  the  world  to  everlasting  ages  are  found  to  be  the 
beloved  of  God,  curse  him  or  them.  May  he  or  they 
be  cursed  wherever  he  or  they  be,  whether  in  their 
house  or  in  their  field,  or  in  the  highway  or  in  the  path, 
or  in  the  wood  or  in  the  water,  or  in  the  church.  May 
he  or  they  be  cursed  in  living,  in  dying,  in  eating,  in 
drinking,  in  being  hungry,  in  being  thirsty,  in  fasting 
IB  sleeping,  in  slumbering,  in  waking,  in  walking,  in 
standing,  in  sitting,  in  lying,  in  working,  in  resting,  in 

p ,   in   s ,  in  blood-letting.      May  he  or  they 

be  cursed  in  all  the  faculties  of  their  body.  May  he  or 
they  bo  cursed  inwardly  and  outwardly.  May  he  or 
they  be  cursed  in  the  hair  of  his  or  their  head.  May 
lie  or  they  be  cursed  in  his  or  their  brain,  and  may  he  or 
they  be  cursed  in  the  top  of  his  or  their  head ;  in  their 
temples,  in  their  foreheads,  in  their  ears,  in  their  eye- 


86      WYCLIFFE  AND  THE  LOLLARDS 

brows,  in  their  cheeks,  in  their  jawbones,  in  their 
nostrils,  in  their  fore  teeth  or  grinders,  in  their  lips,  in 
their  throat,  in  their  shoulders,  in  their  wrists,  in  their 
arms,  in  their  hands,  in  their  fingers,  in  their  breast,  in 
their  heart,  and  in  all  the  interior  parts  to  the  very 
stomach :  in  their  veins,  in  the  groins,  in  the  thighs,  in 
the  genitals,  in  the  hips,  in  the  knees,  in  the  legs,  in  the 
feet,  in  the  joints,  and  in  the  nails.  May  he  or  they  be 
cursed  in  all  their  joints  from  the  top  of  the  head  to 
the  sole  of  the  foot.  May  there  not  be  any  sound- 
ness in  him  or  them.  May  the  Son  of  the  living  God 
with  all  the  glory  of  His  majesty,  curse  him  or  them : 
and  may  heaven,  with  all  the  powers  which  move  therein, 
all  rise  against  him  or  them,  to  damn  him  or  them, 
unless  it  shall  repent  him  or  them,  and  that  he  or  they 
shall  make  satisfaction.     Amen.     Amen.     So  be  it." 

In  addition  to  the  greater  excommunication,  Pope 
Innocent  in.  declared  the  English  throne  vacant,  and 
promised  Philip  of  France  a  free  pardon  if  he  would 
invade  England  and  oust  King  John.  The  fear  of  the 
French  fleet  and  armies,  and  his  distrust  of  the  loyalty 
of  his  own  barons  and  people,  whom  he  had  so  cruelly 
alienated,  brought  him  to  his  knees,  and  in  Dover 
Cathedral,  at  the  feet  of  Cardinal  Pandulph,  the  papal 
legate,  he  submitted  to  his  castigation,  laying  down  his 
much-soiled  crown,  swearing  to  be  the  Pope's  faithful 
vassal,  and  promising  to  pay  as  an  indemnity  700  merks 
of  silver  for  England  and  300  for  Ireland, — some 
£12,000  sterling,  a  much  larger  sum  than  the  income 
of  the  King  himself. 

Here  then  the  old  dispute  of  King  versus  Pope  meets 
us  in  a  most  accentuated  form.  It  was  an  absolute  and 
unconditional  surrender  of  everything  to  the  spiritual 


TIARA  AND  CROWN  87 

power  at  Rome.  The  question  which  was  at  the  root 
of  the  three  years'  excommunication  was  really  whether 
the  Pope  or  the  King  was  to  have  the  chief  say  in  the  ap- 
pointment of  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury, — whether 
Stephen  Langton  or  John  de  Gray  was  to  be  installed. 

The  question  has  long  ago  been  finally  settled  by  the 
Roman  Church,  which  on  more  than  one  occasion  has 
through  its  officials  and  official  organs  declared  that 
England  was  papal  property  in  jure.  No  one  was 
ever  more  careful  or  distinct  in  declaring  the  supremacy 
of  the  Church  over  Kings  and  Emperors  than  the  late 
Cardinal  Manning.  In  1874  he  foretold  a  great 
European  war,  and  hailed  it  as  an  occasion  of  re- 
establishing the  supremacy  of  the  Roman  See  over  all 
civil  States : 

"  The  excited  antagonism  of  the  nations  is  founded 
on  a  fact  full  of  consolations.  Instead  of  being  alarmed 
or  scared  or  discouraged  by  the  great  sharpening  of 
animosity,  and  the  great  massing  together  of 
antagonists,  I  look  upon  it  as  the  most  beautiful  sign. 
.  .  .  Now,  when  the  nations  of  Europe  have  revolted 
and  dethroned  the  Vicar  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  when 
they  have  made  the  usurpation  of  the  Holy  City  a 
part  of  international  law,  there  is  only  one  solution  of 
the  difficulty, — a  solution,  I  fear,  impending, — and  that 
is  the  terrible  scourge  of  a  Continental  war,  a  war 
which  will  exceed  the  horrors  of  any  of  the  wars  of 
the  First  Empire.  I  do  not  see  how  this  can  be  averted." 
These  sentiments  are  substantially  repeated  in  a 
sermon  on  the  Allocution,  delivered  by  Cardinal 
Manning,  in  which  he  stated:  "I  have  no  desire  to 
be  a  prophet  of  evil.  For  twelve  months  we  have 
hi!    all    the   torches   of   war   kindling   in    the    East. 


88      WYCLIFFE  AND   THE  LOLLARDS 

Whatever  war  is  kindled  will  involve  the  whole  of 
Europe,  and  whatever  war  involves  the  whole  of 
Europe  will  involve,  as  it  always  has,  in  Christian 
history,  Italy  and  Rome.  The  world,  at  this  moment, 
under  the  sway  of  the  Revolution,  is  being  moved 
to  and  fro.  On  the  one  side  are  the  powers  of  anarchy 
and  usurpation,  and  they  are  all  united  in  desiring 
that  Rome  shall  continue  as  it  is.  On  the  other  side 
are  the  people  of  the  Christian  and  the  Catholic  world, 
and  the  powers  of  order  who  believe  in  God.  These 
two  arrays  are  marshalling  and  approaching  nearer  to 
each  other ;  their  collision  some  day  is  inevitable." 

And  again,  in  a  sermon  on  the  same  subject,  Cardinal 
Manning  remarked :  "  I  must  affirm  my  profound 
belief  that  never  will  Europe  return  from  the  watch 
and  ward  of  an  armed  camp  in  which  it  is  seen  to-day, 
with  some  ten  millions  of  men  ready  to  destroy  each 
other,  until  it  has  recognised  the  superiority  of  the 
moral  order  over  material  power.  And  in  the  day 
in  which  the  superiority  of  that  moral  power  is 
recognised,  the  Vicar  of  Jesus  Christ  will  sit  once 
more  upon  that  pacific  throne  from  which  he  and  his 
predecessors  have  created  and  sustained  the  Christian 
civilisation  of  the  world.  ...  I  therefore  sum  up  the 
whole  in  these  few  words :  Rome  belongs  to  the 
Pontiffs  because  God  gave  that  city  to  them.  Rome 
belongs  to  you  because  you  are  Catholics,  and  it  is 
the  head  of  the  whole  Catholic  world.  And  it  is  the 
duty  of  Christendom  to  protect  that  which  is  the 
heirloom  of  the  Christian  Church,  especially  in  this 
time  of  trial,  which  will  surely  end  in  triumph." 

The  encyclicals  and  Bulls  of  Pius  ix.  in  1873,  after 
the  temporal  power  of  the  Pope  had  been  curtailed  and 


TIARA  AND  CROWN  89 

the  Holy  Father  reduced  to  a  state  of  "  imprisonment " 
in  the  Vatican,  are  full  of  the  self -same  spirit  which 
chastised  King  John  in  Dover  Cathedral,  and  triumphed 
over  England  until  Wycliffe  arose  and  challenged, 
confuted,  and  to  a  considerable  extent  destroyed  it. 

In  the  old  statute  known  as  the  statute  "  Circumspecte 
Agatis,"  certain  things  are  enumerated  which  are 
declared  to  be  "  meer  spiritual,"  as  to  which  the  King's 
prohibition  doth  not  lie.  These  are  (1)  penance  enjoined 
by  prelates  for  deadly  sin ;  (2)  also  if  prelates  do 
punish  for  leaving  the  church  unclosed,  or  for  that  the 
church  is  uncovered,  or  not  conveniently  decked,  in 
which  cases  none  other  penance  can  be  enjoined  but 
pecuniary;  (3)  item,  if  a  parson  demand  of  his 
parishioners  oblations  or  tithes  due  and  accustomed; 
or  if  any  parson  do  sue  against  another  parson  for 
tithes  greater  or  smaller,  so  that  the  fourth  part  of  the 
value  of  the  benefice  be  not  demanded ;  (4)  item,  if  a 
parson  demand  mortuaries,  in  places  where  a  mortuary 
hath  been  used  to  be  given ;  (5)  item,  if  a  prelate  of  a 
church  or  of  a  patron  demand  of  a  parson  a  pension 
due  to  him — all  such  demands  are  to  be  made  in  a 
spiritual  court.  And  likewise  for  breaking  an  oath. 
In  all  these  cases  the  spiritual  power  is  declared  to 
have  power  to  take  knowledge,  notwithstanding  the 
King's  prohibition.  To  certain  articles  in  the  shape  of 
interrogatories  on  this  subject,  the  King  answers :  That 
in  tithes,  oblations,  obventions,  and  mortuaries,  when 
they  be  pleaded  as  before  is  said,  the  King's  prohibi- 
tion doth  not  lie.  And  if  a  clerk  or  a  person  religious 
do  sell  his  corn  being  in  his  barn  or  otherwise  to  anjT 
man  for  money,  if  the  price  thereof  be  demanded  before 
i  ritual  judge,  the  King's  prohibition  doth  lie;  for, 


90      WYCLIFFE  AND  THE  LOLLARDS 

by  the  sale  the  spiritual  are  become  temporal,  and  so 
tithes  pass  into  chattels.  And  if  debate  hang  in  a 
spiritual  court  for  the  right  of  tithes,  having  his 
original  from  the  right  of  the  patronage,  and  the 
quantity  of  the  same  tithes  do  pass  the  fourth  part  of 
the  value  of  the  benefice,  a  prohibition  shall  lie.  Also, 
if  a  prelate  enjoin  penance  pecuniary  to  any  man  for 
his  sin,  if  the  money  be  demanded  before  prelates,  a 
prohibition  shall  lie. 

(  In  1213,  King  John  of  England,  after  his  kingdom 
had  been  under  this  excommunication  for  three  years, 
pledged  himself,  if  the  ban  were  removed,  to  make 
over  the  realm  of  England  to  the  Pope,  to  hold  it 
in  vassalage  to  the  Popedom,  and  in  token  of  this 
to  pay  annually  £12,000  as  rent, — a  much  larger  sum 
than  the  income  of  the  King  himself.  For  more  than 
a  hundred  years  this  rent  was  irregularly  paid;  but 
in  1366,  when  Wycliffe  steps  on  the  scene,  it  had  not 
been  transmitted  for  thirty-three  years.  '  The  seat 
of  the  Pope  had  been  removed  from  Rome  to  Avignon 
so  as  to  be  under  French  protection,  the  reigning  Pope 
being  a  Frenchman.  England  having  been  at  war 
with  France,  and  having  beaten  her  at  Cressy  and 
Poitiers,  was  therefore  very  loth  to  owe  allegiance  to 
a  French  Pontiff',  much  less  to  forward  the  annual 
remittance.  Pope  Urban  v.,  however,  had  the  effrontery 
to  apply  to  Edward  in.  not  only  for  that  year's  tribute, 
but  for  all  the  arrears.  cThe  King's  Council  discussed 
the  matter:  Wycliffe,  who  as  royal  chaplain  had  a 
place  in  that  council,  and  who  in.a  tract  records  the  dis- 
cussion, objected  to  the  payment  of  anything  whatever, 
on  the  ground  that  King  John  had  no  right  to  subject  the 
country  to  that  tax  without  the  consent  of  Parliament, 


TIARA  AND  CROWN  91 

and  denied  the  papal  claim  that  Church  property  was 
inalienable.  The  result  was  that  the  Council  resolved 
to  support  the  King  and  to  reject  the  Pope's  claim. 

Wycliffe  wrote  a  tractate  giving  an  elaborate  account 
of  the  discussion  in  the  King's  Council, — the  first 
existing  report  of  a  debate  in  the  Parliament  of 
England,  though,  of  course,  not  an  unbiassed  and  im- 
partial minute  of  the  transactions, — when  seven  barons 
stated  reasons  against  the  payment  of  the  tribute. 
The  first,  a  military  baron,  appealed  to  force.  "  Our 
ancestors  won  this  realm,  and  held  it  against  all  foes 
by  the  sword.  Let  the  Pope  come  and  take  his  tribute 
by  force,  if  he  can ;  I  am  ready  to  stand  up  and  resist 
him."  The  second  reasoned  on  the  grounds  of  true 
spiritual  lordship :  "  It  has  nothing  to  do  with  feudal 
supremacy.  Christ  refused  all  secular  authority ;  the 
foxes  had  holes,  the  birds  of  the  air  had  nests,  but  He  had 
not  where  to  lay  His  head.  Let  us  bid  the  Pope  to  follow 
his  Master,  and  steadfastly  oppose  his  claims  to  civil 
power."  The  third  appealed  to  the  conditions  of  such 
a  subsidy  for  service  done,  and  virtually  said  that  the 
subsidy  was  not  earned  by  the  Roman  See :  "  The 
Pope  calls  himself  Servant  of  the  servants  of  the  Most 
High ;  but  what  is  his  service  to  this  realm  ?  Not 
spiritual  edification,  but  the  absorption  of  our  treasure 
to  enrich  himself  and  his  Court,  while  he  shows  favour 
and  counsel  to  our  enemies."  The  fourth  reasoned 
from  the  idea  of  suzerainty :  "  The  Church  estates 
amount  to  one-third  of  this  realm;  the  Pope  for  these 
estates  is  the  King's  vassal,  and  ought  to  do  homage 
to  him."  The  fifth  argued  that  "to  demand  money 
as  tl  of  John's  absolution  was  flagrant  simony; 

to  grant  it,  therefore,  was  an  irreligious  act,  especially 


92      WYCLIFFE  AND  THE  LOLLARDS 

at  the  cost  of  the  poor  of  the  realm."  The  sixth 
boldly  denounced  the  bargain  as  infamous :  "  If  the 
kingdom  were  the  Pope's,  what  right  had  he  to  alienate 
it,  and  that  for  not  a  fifth  part  of  the  value  ?  More- 
over, Christ  alone  is  Suzerain :  the  Pope,  being  fallible, 
may  be  in  mortal  sin.  Like  the  kings  of  old,  let 
Edward  hold  the  realm  immediately  of  Christ."  The 
last  took  his  stand  upon  the  incompetence  of  John  to 
surrender  the  realm :  "  He  could  not  grant  it  away 
in  his  folly ;  the  whole  transaction  was  null  and  void." 
These  views  of  Wycliffe  regarding  the  right  of  the 
Pope  to  levy  the  subsidy  have  a  double  interest,  as 
showing  the  opposition  of  a  section  of  Englishmen  to 
Rome  as  a  political  and  financial  machine  while  loyally 
upholding  her  faith  and  doctrine.  The  question  of 
doctrine  had  not  yet  taken  such  a  hold  of  Wycliffe's 
mind:  all  he  fought  for  at  present  was  the  justice  of 
his  nation's  case  and  position  against  the  greed  of 
Urban  v.  The  result  of  the  discussion  before  Edward 
in.  was  that  (the  English  barons  sided  with  Wycliffe, 
and  the  Commons  uniting  with  them,  refused  point- 
blank  to  pay  the  tribute  of  1000  marks  annually, 
declaring  unanimously  that  neither  King  John  nor 
any  other  sovereign  had  power  thus  to  subject  the 
realm  of  England  without  consent  of  Parliament  ,  that 
such  consent  had  not  been  obtained ;  and  that,  passing 
over  other  difficulties,  the  whole  transaction  on  the 
part  of  the  King  was  a  violation  of  the  oath  which  he 
had  taken  on  receiving  his  crown."  The  Parliament 
further  resolved  that,  "  should  the  Pope  commence  his 
threatened  process  against  the  King  of  England  as 
his  vassal,  all  possible  aid  should  be  rendered,  that  such 
usurpation  might  be  effectually  resisted." 


TIARA  AND  CROWN  93 

It  was  a  remarkably  bold  step,  and  had  all  been 
right  and  united  at  the  Vatican,  the  consequences 
might  have  been  serious  for  England.  But  there  was 
a  divided  papacy,  and  a  bankrupt  sat  in  the  Chair  at 
Rome.  Further,  England  was  rapidly  becoming  con- 
solidated as  a  nation,  and  Normans  and  Saxons  were 
commingling  as  they  had  never  done  before,  and  the 
English  nation  was  gradually  arising  out  of  the 
struggles  and  chaos  and  darkness  of  the  Middle  Ages. 
England  as  a  great  united  nation  makes  its  appearance, 
looking  more  to  the  King  than  to  the  Pope,  and  loyal 
to  the  national  throne  rather  than  to  the  chairman  of) 
an  Italian  religious  syndicate. 

Wycliffe's  triumph  in  1366  in  carrying  King,  barons, 

Commons,  and  nation  with  him,  and  refusing  to  pay 

either  in  whole  or  in  part  any  of  the  tribute  which 

King  John  had  meanly  agreed  to,  without  the  consent 

of   his   barons   or  people,  was   the  beginning  of   his 

unique  career  as  a,  persona  ingrata  to  Rome.     He  lost 

papal  favour,  but  he  gained  the  affection  of  the  English 

it  and  people,  who  thereafter  looked  upon  him  as 

the  advocate  of  their  national  rights  and  privileges, 

and  the  religious  spokesman  of  the  nation's  feelings, 

hopes,  and    aspirations.    'John    of    Gaunt,  duke    of 

•aster,  the  King's  third  son,  became  ever  after  his 

m,  defender,  and   friend,   and   stood    by   him   as 

Charles  v.  stood  by  Luther.     Wycliffe  took  his  place 

as  the  exponent  of  the  English  people's  independent 

national  wishes  and  desires:  in  a  word,  the  contest 

in    the   nationalisation  of  England,  and    the 

beatification   of  Wycliti".'   as   the   nation's   wise   guide 

and  independent  Bpokesman. 


CHAPTER  V 

Wycliffe's  Mission  to  Bruges 

This  high-handed,  lofty  attitude  and  act  of  the  Church 
towards  kings  and  kingdoms — the  abject  position  in 
which  Rome  placed  all  monarchs — "  the  King,"  as  the 
common  people  said,  "  being  nobody  but  the  Pope's 
man" — opened  the  eyes  of  a  few  thoughtful  men  to 
the  existence  of  other  abuses ;  amongst  others,  to  the 
intrusion  of  the  clergy  into  all  high  offices  of  State — 
such  as  Lords  Chancellor,  Treasurer,  Keeper  of  the 
Privy  Seal,  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer,  Master  of  the 
Rolls:  where  the  Church  could  work  a  finger  in,  it 
got  it  in ;  and  the  hand  followed  the  finger,  and  the 
whole  body  the  hand :  the  Church  required  always  to 
have  its  arm  in;  and  thus  it  was  that  almost  every 
State  office  was  in  the  hands  of  Churchmen — a  state  of 
matters  declared  by  Wycliffe  to  be  unfair  and  dangerous  : 
— "  One  priest  was  Treasurer  for  Ireland,  and  an- 
other for  the  Marshes  of  Calais ;  and  while  the  parson 
of  Oundle  is  employed  as  surveyor  of  the  King's 
buildings,  the  parson  of  Harwich  is  called  to  the 
superintendence  of  the  royal  wardrobe."  Wycliffe 
said :  "  Neither  prelates  nor  doctors,  priests  nor 
deacons  should  hold  secular  offices;  that  is,  those  of 
Chancery,  Treasury,  Privy  Seal,  and  other  such  secular 
offices  in  the  Exchequer ;  neither  be  stewards  of  lands, 


WYCLIFFE'S   MISSION  TO  BRUGES     95 

nor  stewards  of  the  hall,  nor  clerks  of  the  kitchen,  nor 
clerks  of  accounts;  neither  be  occupied  in  any  secular 
office  in  lords'  courts,  more  especially  while  secular 
men  are  sufficient  to  do  such  offices." 

In  the  course  of  time  this  qucestio  vexata  came 
before  Parliament.  William  Wykeham,  bishop  of 
Winchester,  gave  up  the  Chancellorship,  and  all  great 
offices  of  State  were  emptied  of  their  ecclesiastical 
occupants,  and  laymen  put  in  their  place.  The  same 
grievance  reappears  on  the  eve  of  the  Reformation 
in  Scotland.  The  Scottish  Parliament  consisted  not  of 
two  houses  as  in  England,  but  commoners  and  lords, 
sacred  and  secular,  sat  together  very  much  after  the 
manner  of  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Scottish 
National  Church  to-day.  The  Court  of  Session  founded 
by  James  v.  consisted  of  fifteen  judges,  seven  of  them 
being  clergy  and  seven  laymen,  while  the  Lord 
President  was  almost  always  a  bishop  or  an  abbot. 
In  the  Scottish  Privy  Council — the  officers  of  State 
in  immediate  attendance  on  the  Crown,  the  Lord 
Chancellor  from  1123-1515  was  almost  invariably  a 
cleric;  while  the  Lord  Chamberlain  was  generally  a 
layman,  but  a  devoted  Churchman.  The  Lord  High 
Treasurer  was  sometimes  lay,  sometimes  clerical.  But 
all  the  chief,  the  honourable  and  lucrative  offices  were 
held  by  Churchmen,  while  in  the  Scottish  Parliament 
all  the  bishops  and  most  of  the  abbots  in  the  land 
had  seats.  James  v.  of  Scotland  employed  clergy 
in  preference  to  nobility,  partly  from  personal  bias 
and  taste,  but  mainly  because  he  found  them  better 
educated  than  the  rough  earls  and  knights  of  the 
ii,  who  were  more  at  home  on  the  battlefield  than 
in  the  council -chamber. 


96      WYCLIFFE  AND  THE  LOLLARDS 

The  same  fight  took  place  in  England  in  Wycliffe's 
day,  and  the  result  was  a  temporary  defeat  of  the 
cleoicaJMioldej^_pJL_high  offices  of  State  in  1371. 
Parliament  took  the  matter  up  and  finally  removed 
ecclesiastics  from  these  offices,  while  the  renowned 
Bishop  of  Winchester,  William  of  Wykeham,  volun- 
tarily gave  up  the  Chancellorship  of  England. 

Further,    foreigners were.-  intruded    into    English 

benefices  —  men  who  spoke  another  tongue,  did  not 
understand  that  of  their  flocks,  and,  if  ^resident  in 
their  parishes  at  all,  were  so  for  only  a  few  weeks  of 
the  year. 

Another  gross  abuse  was  that  every  bishop  on 
being  appointed  or  translated  was  obliged  to  transmit 
his  first  year's  emoluments  to  Rome;  and  by  one  of 
those  clever  subtle  tricks  of  which  the  Church  of  Rome 
has  so  large  and  varied  an  assortment,  the  Pope  con- 
trived, on  every  episcopal  vacancy  occurring,  to  translate 
a  large  number  of  the  other  bishops,  if  not  all  of  them, 
from  one  See  to  another ;  and  thus  he  got  all  their 
salaries  for  a  whole  twelvemonth  instead  of  one  salary 
only.  The  Pope  contrived  to  get  the  chief  say  in  all 
ecclesiastical  appointments  of  importance,  and  that 
meant  that  his  friends  got  the  honour,  he  got  the 
money,  and  the  King  got  nothing. 

In  1350  the  Statute  of  Provisors  denied  the  Pope's 
claim  to  dispose  of  English  livings,  and  in  1353  the 
"Praemunire"  statute  made  an  end  of  papal  Bulls 
and  briefs  being  carried  out  without  the  sanction  of 
the  State.  The  laws  were  there,  but  the  execution 
was  defective.  When,  in  J  341,  Clement  iv.  had 
claimed  his  "  right  to  appoint  by  provision  two  of  his 
cardinals  to  livings  in  England  over  2000  merks  per 


WYCLIFFE'S  MISSION  TO  BRUGES     97 

.lum,  it  was  felt  that  such  laws  were  a  necessity, 
and  they  did  good.  But  still  complaints  came  that 
papal  interferences  and  exactions  were  rife.  At  last, 
( in  1373,  a  Commission  was  appointed  to  put  the  com- 
plaint of  the  King,  nobles,  Parliament,  and  realm  of 
England  before  the  Pope, — Gregory  IX.,  demanding 
that  "the  Pontiff  should  desist  in  future  from  the 
reservation  of  benefices  in  the  Anglican  Church ;  that 
the  clergy  should  henceforth  freely  enjoy  their  election 
to  episcopal  dignities ;  and  that  in  the  case  of  electing 
a  bishop,  it  should  be  enough  that  his  appointment 
should  be  confirmed  by  his  metropolitan,  as  was  the 
ancient  custom."  Many  admirable  promises  were  made 
by  the  Pope,  but  the  evils  continued,  and  at  last  another 
Commission  was  appointed,  consisting  of  Gilbert,  bishop 
of  Bangor,  and  Wycliffe  was  appointed  to  come  to 
terms  with  the  Pope. 

The  place  appointed  for  the  conference  was  Bruges, 
the  chief  city  of  Flanders,  with  its  hoary  Cathedral 
of  the  Holy  Saviour  and  its  world-renowned  belfry 
and  chimes.  The  sovereign  Counts  of  Flanders,  the 
Dukes  of  Burgundy,  had  their  chief  home  in  the  "  city 
of  bridges,"  as  its  name  signifies.  The  reason  why 
Bruges  was  chosen  as  the  meeting-place  between  the 
representatives  of  England  and  of  the  Vatican  was  that 
a  greater  conference  was  already  in  progress  there, 
between  France  and  Edward  iii.'s  ambassadors,  headed 
by  John  of  Gaunt,  regarding  the  conclusion  of  peace 
between  France  and  England.  Consequently,  the  city 
was  crowded  with  papal,  English,  and  French 
dignitaries,  and  it  was  a  favourable  opportunity  for 
a  conference  on  this  matter  of  the  intrusion  of 
foreigners  into  English  benefices. 
7 


98      WYCLIFFE  AND  THE  LOLLARDS 

^A  conference  was  held  at  Bruges  between  France 
representing  the  Pope,  and  England  represented  by 
Wycliffe,  and  Gilbert,  bishop  of  Bangor.  The  result 
was  that  the  Pope  gave  way  a  little  in  the  matter 
of  benefices,  but  his  claim  to  be  Proprietor  and  Owner 
of  England  (the  King  being  only  his  tenant  and 
vassal)  remained  unabated,  as  it  does  to  this  day. 
Wycliffe  was  disgusted,'  and  returned  from  Bruges 
and  the  Roman  conclave  as  nauseated  as  did  Luther 
one  hundred  and  fifty  years  later  from  Rome,  where 
he  had  expected  to  find  peace,  love,  eternity, — and 
found  in  reality  strife,  hatred,  lies,  and  worldliness. 

Though  the  Bruges  Conference  was  attended  by 
the  greatest  and  wisest,  with  John  of  Gaunt  and  the 
English  ambassadors  and  the  chief  continental  and 
Papal  dignitaries  taking  part,  the  only  practical  result 
was  a  series  of  letters  between  the  Pope  and  the 
English  Edward  in  which  some  points  were  yielded, 
but  the  papal  principle  remained  unchanged.  ( Wycliffe 
gained  something  by  the  conference,  for  he  and  John 
of  Gaunt  were  even  more  closely  welded  together, 
and  with  the  ageing  sovereign  and  the  poor  health 
of  the  Black  Prince  this  meant  a  great  deal.  Above 
all,  Wycliffe's  horizon  was  enlarged,  and  he  learned 
what  Roman  methods  of  argument  really  were,  and 
what  the  Holy  See  really  claimed  as  its  divine  right. 
Bruges  was  to  Wycliffe  what  Rome  was  to  Luther,  a 
place  of  revelation,  and  his  visit  resulted  in  a  firmer 
conviction  of  the  bold  pretensions  and  far-reaching 
claims  of  the  papacy,  and  of  its  claim  of  right  to 
do  what  it  liked  with  lands  and  hands,  souls  and 
bodies. 


CHAPTER   VI 

Rector  of  Lutterworth 

In  recognition  of  his  services  at  Bruges  in  defending 
English  national  rights  and  privileges  as  against 
Roman  claims,  the  King  presented  him  to  the  prebend 
of  Aust  in  the  collegiate  Church  of  Westbury,  in 
Worcester  diocese.  A  further  honour  was  conferred 
upon  him  when  he  was  appointed  rector  of  the  sweet 
parish  of  Lutterworth,  on  the  borders  of  leafy 
Warwickshire  and  hilly  Northamptonshire, — an  office 
which  he  held  for  nine  years,  until  his  death  in  1385.' 
Lutterworth  was  the  quiet  forge  where  were  prepared 
those  weapons  of  ecclesiastical  and  theological  war- 
fare which  finally  won  the  day  for  reformation  in 
England  and  largely  in  Europe.  Both  in  his  parish 
and  in  Oxford  he  was  perpetually  lecturing  and 
preaching,  his  views  becoming  every  day  more  con- 
solidated and  pronounced  against  various  abuses  of 
the  Church.  His  boldness,  indeed,  considering  the 
fact  that  in  his  distinctive  religious  views  he  stood 
pretty  much  like  Athanasius  of  old,  "  against  the 
m  >rld,"  was  wonderful,  and  he  "  began  to  scatter  forth 
hifl  bhisph i-mies,"  as  a  contemporary  adversary  says 
of  him,  with  all  the  more  vigour  after  receiving  his 
degree  of  doctor  from  Oxford. 

\\lii;     i  L-iiis    to    be    the    foundation   doctrine    of 

N 


ioo     WYCLIFFE  AND  THE  LOLLARDS 

Wycliffe,  so  far  as  the  relations  of  civil  and 
ecclesiastical  rights  were  concerned,  was  what  he 
called  "  Dominion  founded  in  grace,"  by  which  he 
meant  that  God  was  Snip  Pmpri^f ,nr  of  all  things 
and  the  original  Fountain  of  all  authority ;  and  this 
authority  is  delegated  by  Him  to  earthly  stewards  on 
condition  that  they  obey  His  commands,— the  feudal 
idea  of  "  suzerain,"  "  tenure."  and  "  fief."  (  On  this 
principle  both  Pope  and  King  are,  each  in  his  own 
sphere,  stewards  of  God,  and  every  Christian  is  the 
custodian  at  any  rate  of  one  talent.  The  Pope  is  not, 
therefore,  the  supreme  authority,  but  God  alone, — the 
first^rinciple  of  the  Reformation. 

In  1376  the  "good  Parliament"  was  sitting,  and 
possibly  Wycliffe  may  have  been  a  member  of  it,  at 
any  rate  Wycliffe's  views  found  abundant  expression 
from  its  members.  Representations  were  made  that 
the  country  was  groaning  under  the  taxation  of 
Rome,  the  sum  paid  to  Rome  amounting  to  five  times 
that  paid  in  taxes  to  the  Crown.  As  to  ecclesiastical 
offices,  it  was  pointed  out  that  unworthy  men  were 
promoted,  while  the  pious  and  dutiful  were  left  in 
semi-starvation.  The  introduction  of  foreigners  into 
Church  offices  was  also  laid  stress  upon,  foreign 
cardinals  being  made  deans  and  archdeacons  in  order 
to  draw  English  revenues, — these  revenues  going 
abroad  to  Roman  coffers. 

Twenty  thousand  pounds  a  year  was  stated  as  the 
sum  which  the  Roman  agent  received  of  Peter's  Pence 
in  the  London  office  and  sent  to  Rome,  he  himself  re- 
siding in  the  capital  in  affluence.  Every  new  incum- 
bent had  to  pay  first-fruits  to  this  official,  who  lived 
in  London  in  an  office  "like  the  Custom-house  of  a 


RECTOR  OF  LUTTERWORTH         icj 

priest."  What  was  true  of  the  common  priest  was 
also  true  of  the  bishop,  who  had  to  hand  over  to  the 
Pope  the  first  year's  revenue  of  his  See,  and  thus  by 
an  evident  trick  it  was  easy  to  translate  several  bishops 
in  the  course  of  a  year  and  thus  secure  the  first-fruits 
of  each  See  to  Rome ;  while  the  scandal  of  money- 
raising  actually  reached  the  height  of  fleecing  the 
English  clergy  of  money  with  which  to  procure  the 
ransom  of  soldiers  taken  prisoner  in  the  French  wars. 
All  of  these  abuses  and  scandals  Wycliffe  exposed  and 
scourged,  declaring  that  "God  entrusted  the  flock  to 
the  Holy  Father  to  feed  and  not  to  fleece."  '  Whether 
there  be  truth  or  not  in  the  modern  description  of  the 
methods  of  the  Vatican  as  "  the  Pope's  shop,"  it  seems 
pretty  clear  that  England  was  regarded  by  the  Holy 
See  very  much  as  a  harvest-field  from  which,  by^ 
hook  or  by  crook,  to  gather  in  revenues  for  itself, 
Without  any  consideration  of  the  benefits  given  by  or 
the  results  springing  from  such  a  policy. 

Edward  in.,  the  conqueror  of  Cressy  and  Poitiers, 
was  now  old  and  feeble,  and  unable  to  face  these 
weighty  matters;  but' the  Church  authorities  felt  that 
a  crisis  had  arrived  in  the  history  of  religion  in 
England,  and  feeling  that  Wycliffe  was  the  originator 
of  all  these  reform  movements,  they  finally  summoned 
him  to  the  Convocation  of  Canterbury  in  1377,  to  be 
held  in  St.  Paul's  Cathedral,^-the  old  St.  Paul's,  the 
foundations  of  which  are  still  traceable  around  the 
dome  which  to-day  marks  the  central  spot  of 
the  Anglican  Church. 

Wycliffe  was  summoned  to  appear  in  the  Lady 
Chapel  of  the  Cathedral  on  the  19th  February  1377, 
and1  John    of    Gaunt,  the    Duke    of    Lancaster,   the 


:i02     WYCLIFFE  AND    THE  LOLLARDS 

Reformer's  trusty  friend,  resolved  to  accompany  him 
and  see  justice  done.  Lord  Percy,  the  Earl  Marshal 
of  England,  also  attended  as  a  friend  of  Wycliffe  ;  while 
many  of  the  nobility  of  England  were  present, 
interested  in  the  brave  fight  which  was  being  made 
for  the  independence  and  liberties  of  the  nation.  } 
Very  curiously,  in  addition  to  a  small  company  of 
armed  men  who  accompanied  the  Duke  for  the  pro- 
tection of  the  Reformer,  there  were  also  five  friars 
of  the  mendicant  order.  An  enormous  crowd 
surrounded  the  doors  of  the  Lady  Chapel,  and 
encouraged  Wycliffe  with  such  greetings  as — "Fear 
not  the  bishops,  for  they  are  all  unlearned  in  respect 
of  you."  Lord  Percy  and  his  retinue  struggled 
through  the  crowd,  and  when  they  gained  access  to 
the  place  of  meeting,  Courtenay,  the  Bishop  of  London, 
turned  testily  to  him  and  exclaimed,  "  Lord  Percy,  if  I 
had  known  beforehand  what  masteries  you  would  have 
kept  in  the  Church  I  would  have  stopped  you  from 
coming  hither  " ;  to  which  John  of  Gaunt  retorted,  "  I 
shall  keep  such  masteries  here  though  you  say  Nay ! " 

The  trial  of  Wycliffe  took  place  before  Simon 
Sudbury,  archbishop  of  Canterbury,  Courtenay, 
bishop  of  London,  a  member  of  the  house  of  Devon, 
and  the  other  bishops  of  England;  and  Lechler 
describes  his  personal  appearance  in  these  words: 
"  A  tall  thin  figure,  covered  with  a  long  light  gown  of 
black  colour,  with  a  girdle  about  his  body;  the  head 
adorned  with  a  full  flowing  beard,  exhibiting  features 
keen  and  sharply  cut ;  the  eye  clear  and  penetrating ; 
the  lips  firmly  closed  in  token  of  resolution, — the 
whole  man  wearing  an  aspect  of  lofty  earnestness, 
and  replete  with  dignity  and  character." 


RECTOR  OF  LUTTERWORTH         103 

Lord  Percy  with  great  boldness  told  Wycliffe  to 
take  a  seat,  "  for  you  have  many  things  to  answer  to, 
and  you  need  to  repose  on  a  soft  seat";  to  which 
Bishop  Courtenay  retorted,  "It  is  unmeet  that  one 
cited  before  his  ordinary  should  sit  down  during  his 
answer;  he  must  and  shall  stand."  As  usual,  the 
redoubtable  John  of  Gaunt,  who  had  so  often  stood 
by  the  Reformer  in  perilous  times,  more  especially  at 
Bruges,  took  Percy's  side,  and  declared,  "The  Lord 
Percy's  motion  for  Wycliffe  is  but  reasonable ;  and  as 
for  you,  my  lord  bishop,  who  are  grown  so  proud 
and  arrogant,  I  will  bring  down  the  pride  not  of  you 
alone,  but  of  all  the  prelacy  in  England."  "  Do  your 
worst,  sir,"  said  Courtenay.  Heated  and  angry,  John 
of  Gaunt  continued,  "Thou  bearest  thyself  so  brag 
upon  thy  family,  who  shall  not  be  able  to  help  thee : 
they  shall  have  enough  to  do  to  help  themselves." 
"My  confidence,"  replied  Courtenay,  "is  not  in  my 
family  nor  in  any  man  else,  but  only  God,  in  whom 
I  trust,  by  whose  assistance  I  will  be  bold  to  speak 
the  truth."  John  of  Gaunt's  muttered  retort  was, 
"  Rather  than  I  will  take  these  words  at  his  hands,  I 
will  pluck  the  bishop  by  the  hair  out  of  the  Church," 
— a  veiled  threat  which  the  crowd  overheard,  and 
Courtenay  being  a  general  favourite  with  the 
populace,  resented,  the  assemblage  at  once  becoming 
menacing  and  riotous,  and**  a  general  brawl  took  place 
and  the  proceedings  broke  up  in  confusion. ;  Fresh 
i'u  <\  was  added  to  the  fire  later  in  the  day — for  these 
lively  proceedings  took  place  before  nine  in  the 
morning — when  in  Parliament  the  municipality  of 
London  was  threatened  with  humiliation;  and  fresh 
a  broke  out  in  the  city,  during  which  the  houses 


104     WYCLIFFE  AND  THE  LOLLARDS 

both  of  Percy  and  of  Lancaster  were  assailed,  their 
arms  removed,  and  a  priest  was  killed  at  the  m€lde. 

f  The  practical  result  of  the  day's  doings  was  nothing 
at  all,  as  Wycliffe  neither  heard  the  charges  made 
against  him  nor  had  an  opportunity  of  speaking  for 
his  cause;  the  fierce  riot  which  raged,  and  which 
might  have  gone  further  had  not  the  bishop  reminded 
them  it  was  Lent,  but  which  very  nearly  ended  in 
disaster  both  to  Percy  and  to  Lancaster,  utterly 
destroyed  all  procedure,  and  all  that  was  done  was  to 
dismiss  Wycliffe  with  an  injunction  not  to  preach  his 
peculiar  doctrines  any  more.  Accordingly  he  retired 
to  peaceful  Lutterworth  and  resumed  his  ordinary 
pastoral  care  and  his  studies  at  Oxford  for  the  great 
cause  which  he  had  espoused.  But  while  Wycliffe 
went  to  retirement,  his  views,  principles,  and  position 
became  more  and  more  popular,  and  it  was  generally 
felt  an  injustice  that  he  should  be  looked  on  with 
suspicion  and  dislike  if  truth  was  on  his  side.  But  so 
strong  was  Wycliffe  in  his  character  and  belief,  that 
while  St.  Athanasius  could  write  his  treatise  Contra 
Mwndum,  the  English  defender  of  the  primitive  faith 
of  Christ  could  face  both  earth  and  the  principalities 
and  powers  of  the  unseen  with  equanimity  and  con- 
tent, carrying  with  him  the  beautiful  sentiment  to 
which  he  gave  utterance  in  his  tract,  Be  Diabolo  et 
Membris, — "  Christian  men  should  know  that  whoso- 
ever liveth  best  prayeth  best;  and  that  the  simple 
paternoster  of  a  ploughman  who  hath  charity  is  better 
than  a  thousand  Masses  of  covetous  prelates  and  vain 
religious."  Luther  in  his  boast  about  the  tiles  of 
Worms  and  his  hymn  of  battle  against  the  forces  of 
Antichrist  was  only  Wycliffe  revived  ! 


CHAPTER  VII 

The  Papal  Ban  against  Wycliffe 

On  the  17th  of  January  1377,  the  "seventy  years' 
captivity"  of  the  Popes  at  Avignon  came  to  an  end, 
and  Pope  Gregory  xi.  entered  the  city  of  Rome  in 
royal  state.  Now  that  the  divisions  and  controversies 
seemed  to  be  coming  to  a  conclusion,  the  enemies  of 
Wycliffe  thought  it  a  good  opportunity  to  prosecute 
him  with  renewed  zeal,  and  the  English  bishops  made 
a  strong  representation  to  the  Vatican  of  the  harm 
which  the  new  doctrines  were  doing,  and  the  necessity 
for  drastic  action.  Accordingly,  five  papal  Bulls  were 
promulgated  on  the  22nd  of  May — declaring  in  full 
in  nineteen  articles  the  doctrines  of  Wycliffe,  and 
addressed  to  the  bishops,  the  University  of  Oxford, 
and  the  King.  The  bishops  are  required  to  make  the 
fullest  and  most  searching  inquiry  into  the  matter, 
and  to  warn  all  in  authority  to  use  their  influence  in 
purging  the  land  of  heresy,  while  in  the  interval 
Wycliffe  is  to  be  imprisoned  during  the  papal  pleasure ; 

;  if  he  should  escape  by  flight  he  is  to  be  summoned 
to  appear  at  Rome  to  answer  for  his  errors.  *  The  end 
of  the  "  Babylonish  Exile,"  as  the  Italians  in  derision 
called  the  long  papal  sojourn  at  Avignon,  was  now  to 
be  celebrated  by  a  great  auto  da  f4  in  which  Wycliffe 

-  to  be  the  scapegoat,  carrying  into  the  wilderness 

105 


106     WYCLIFFE  AND  THE  LOLLARDS 

the  knocks  and  blows  which  would  otherwise  have 
been  expended  by  contending  ecclesiastical  dignitaries 
upon  one  another. 

When  Edward  in.  of  England  received  his  copy  of 
the  papal  Bull  against  his  notorious  subject,  he  was 
nearing  his  end,  and  a  month  after  receiving  it,  on 
21st  of  June  1377,  he  passed  away  after  his  long  reign 
of  fifty  years,  with  its  rich  memories  of  Halidon  Hill, 
Crecy,  Neville's  Cross,  Calais,  Poitiers,  and  Bretigny. 
The  Black  Prince's  son,  Edward  iii.'s  grandson,  who 
became  Richard  n.,  was  twelve  years  of  age,  and  under 
the  care  and  tutelage  of  his  widowed  mother,  the 
dowager  Princess  of  Wales,  a  woman  of  spirit  and 
ability,  and  rather  favourable  to  Wycliffe's  views. 
The  Duke  of  Lancaster  was  on  the  field  as  well,  and 
no  one  knew  what  might  take  place  in  the  social  and 
ecclesiastical  upheavals  of  the  time,  and  what  measure 
of  support  the  crafty  and  bold  rival  might  receive 
from  the  people. 

In  October  the  boy  King  held  his  first  Parliament, 
two  months  after  his  accession,  a  Parliament  the  chief 
note  of  which  was  its  patriotism  and  antagonism  to 
Roman  claims.  Wycliffe  was  summoned  to  its  counsels 
as  one  who  had  before  upheld  the  national  cause  and 
been  the  commissioner  of  princes  and  the  adviser  of 
Parliament.  The  prolonged  war  with  France  occupied 
much  of  the  attention  of  this  Parliament,  especially 
as  a  new  war  with  the  land  of  the  fleur-de-lys  seemed 
imminent ;  while  the  oppressive  ecclesiastical  taxation 
formed  also  a  main  item  in  the  deliberations.  It  was 
actually  proposed  that  all  foreign  ecclesiastics,  whether 
monks  or  seculars,  should  be  called  upon  to  leave  the 
kingdom,  and  that  their  lands  and  revenues  should  be 


THE  PAPAL  BAN  AGAINST  WYCLIFFE    107 

applied  to  the  war  against  France.  This  was  a 
national  answer  to  the  claims  and  doings  both  of 
France  and  the  Pope,  for  up  till  now,  and  for  a  con- 
siderable time  previously,  the  Popes  had  been  French- 
men; and  naturally  all  their  sympathies  being  with 
France,  they  pressed  for  the  payment  by  England  of 
the  papal  tribute  and  dues,  which  went  to  help  France 
to  carry  on  the  war  against  England.  The  source 
from  which  these  revenues  came,  thus  became  the 
target  of  attack  by  those  who  received  them, — a  strange 
and  almost  unendurable  position. 

Wycliffe  was  asked  this  question  by  the  Parliament 
— "  Whether  the  kingdom  of  England  in  case  of  need, 
for  the  purpose  of  self-defence,  is  not  competent  in  law 
to  restrain  the  treasure  of  the  land  from  being  carried 
off  to  foreign  parts,  although  the  Pope  should  demand 
this  export  of  gold  in  virtue  of  the  obedience  due  to 
him  and  under  the  threat  of  Church  censures." 
Wycliffe,  at  the  request  of  the  boy  King  and  his  Council, 
drew  up  the  exhaustive  and  well-reasoned  reply,  that 
national  treasure  may  be  lawfully  retained  for  the 
nation's  use,  as  could  easily  be  proved  from  natural 
reason,  conscience,  and  Scripture.  Gifts  to  the  Roman 
See  were  only  alms,  and  alms  were  only  bestowed 
properly  when  given  to  the  necessitous,  which  the 
Roman  See  could  not  reasonably  claim  to  be,  as  it  was 
far  richer  than  England.  Granting  that  the  Pope  had 
e  tributes  as  a  moral  right,  and  that  England  would 
Buffer  an  interdict  such  as  she  had  suffered  before  for 
opposing  and  refusing  them,  how  could  England's 
action  be  justified  ?  "  The  Holy  Father,"  answered 
Wycliffe,  "  would  not  thus  treat  his  children,  especially 
idering  the  piety  of  England:  but  if  he  should,  it 


108     WYCLIFFE  AND  THE  LOLLARDS 

is  one  comfort  to  know  that  such  censures  carry  no 
divine  authority;  and  another,  that  God  does  not 
desert  those  who  trust  in  Him  and  who,  keeping  His 
law,  fear  God  rather  than  man." 

"  What  claim,"  asked  Wycliffe,  "  has  the  Pope  to 
temporal  supremacy  ?  It  may  indeed  be  claimed  by 
you,"  he  added,  "  in  virtue  of  some  plea,  but  assuredly 
by  no  right  or  title  derived  from  the  apostles.  For 
how  could  an  apostle  give  unto  you  that  which  he  did 
not  himself  possess  ?  "  Wycliffe's  strong  resistance  to 
the  Pope's  temporal  power  influenced  Parliament  so 
greatly,  that  he  really  led  it  not  only  to  question  the 
temporal,  but  even  the  spiritual  authority  of  the  Holy 
See ;  but  the  definite  result  was  that  Parliament  was 
prorogued  without  any  definite  action  being  determined 
upon. 

The  papal  Bull  presented  to  Oxford  University  had 
little  effect.  Wycliffe  stood  too  high  in  the  estimation 
of  Oxford  to  be  in  danger  there,  and  the  University 
authorities  asked  time  for  consideration ;  but  no  action 
followed. ;  The  Bull  sent  to  King  Edward  in.  found 
him  in  his  grave.  The  only  remaining  hope,  therefore, 
of  the  Pope  was  in  his  own  prelates  in  England ;  and 
in  the  Bull  addressed  to  them  the  supreme  Pontifex 
said  that  "  information  had  been  received  from  persons 
truly  worthy  of  credit,  that  John  Wycliffe,  rector  of 
Lutterworth  in  the  diocese  of  Lincoln,  and  professor  of 
divinity,  with  a  fearlessness  the  offspring  of  a  detest- 
able insanity,  had  ventured  to  dogmatise  and  preacli 
in  favour  of  opinions  wholly  subversive  of  the  Church. 
For  this  cause  the  parties  addressed  are  required  to 
seize  the  person  of  the  offender  in  the  name  of  the 
Pope;  to  commit  him  to  prison;  to  obtain  complete 


THE  PAPAL  BAN  AGAINST  WYCLIFFE    109 

information  as  to  his  tenets;  and  transmitting  such 
information  to  Rome  by  a  trusty  messenger,  they  are 
to  retain  the  arch-heretic  as  their  prisoner  until  further 
instructions  should  be  received  concerning  him."  The 
new  Primate  of  England,  Sudbury,  archbishop  of 
Canterbury,  summoned  Wycliffe  to  appear  before  him 
in  the  Archbishop's  Chapel  at  Lambeth  in  April 
1378,  the  special  papal  commissioners  being  himself 
and  the  Bishop  of  London.  *  In  his  defence,  Wycliffe 
went  to  the  palace  opposite  Westminster  Abbey 
without  the  guardianship  either  of  Lancaster  or  Percy, 
while  a  great  crowd,  much  more  friendly  to  him  than 
that  which  had  previously  crowded  the  doors  of  St. 
Paul's,  gathered  and  forced  their  way  into  the  chapel, 
declaring  that  "papal  briefs  should  have  no  force  in 
this  country  without  the  Roj^al  consent,  for  in  England 
not  the  Pope,  but  the  King  is  master  of  the  house." 
In  his  Church  History,  Andrew  Fuller  declares  that 
men  expected  he  should  be  devoured,  being  brought 
into  the  lions'  den." 

Wycliffe  produced  a  written  defence,  carefully 
reasoned  out  and  scholastically  argued,  vindicating  his 
doctrines  point  by  point.  "  In  the  first  place,"  he  says, 
"  I  protest  publicly,  as  I  have  often  done,  that  I  resolve 
with  my  whole  heart  and  by  the  grace  of  God  to  be 
a  sincere  Christian ;  and  while  life  shall  last,  to  profess 
and  to  defend  the  law  of  Christ  so  far  as  I  have  power. 
If  through  ignorance  or  from  any  other  cause  I  shall 
fail  in  this  determination,  I  ask  forgiveness  of  God, 
and  retracting  the  errors  submit  with  humility  to  the 
correction  of  the  Church.  And  since  the  notions  of 
children  and  of  weak  persons,  concerning  what  I  have 
/tit    are  conveyed  by  others,  who  are  more  than 


no     WYTLIFFE  AND  THE  LOLLARDS 

children,  beyond  the  seas,  even  to  the  Court  of  Rome, 
I  am  willing  to  commit  my  opinions  to  writing.  In 
my  conclusions  I  have  followed  the  sacred  Scriptures 
and  the  holy  doctors,  both  in  their  meaning  and  in 
their  modes  of  expression ;  this  I  am  willing  to  show  : 
but  should  it  be  proved  that  such  conclusions  are 
opposed  to  the  Faith,  I  am  prepared  very  willingly  to 
retract  them." 

The  nineteen  articles  of  heresy  are  then  reviewed 
in  detail  by  him.  The  Pope  has  no  political  dominion : 
his  spiritual  power  is  absolute,  God  only  being  his 
judge: — he  has  no  supremacy  over  the  temporal  be- 
longings of  the  clergy  or  religious  houses ;  the  priest's 
power  of  binding  and  loosing — the  power  of  the  keys — 
is  only  ministerial,  and  no  absolution  is  worth  anything 
unless  it  comes  from  God ;  neither  will  excommunication 
hurt  a  man  unless  he  has  first  excommunicated  himself 
before  God,  for  "  it  is  not  Church  censure  but  sin  that 
hurts  a  man,"  and  "neither  the  Pope  nor  any  other 
Christian  can  absolutely  bind  or  loose,  but  only  as  he 
obeys  the  law  of  Christ " ;  and  "  it  seems  to  me  that  he 
who  usurps  this  power  must  be  the  Man  of  Sin."  In 
all  probability,  however,  the  boldest  thesis  of  all  was 
that  in  which  he  declared  that  the  Pope  was  not  above 
the  Church,  but  was  the  servant  of,  and  subject  to,  the 
Church.  "An  ecclesiastic  or  Churchman,"  he  boldly 
declared,  "even  the  Pope  of  Rome  may  lawfully  be 
corrected  for  the  benefit  of  the  Church,  and  be  accused 
by  the  clergy  as  well  as  by  the  laity ;  for  the  Church 
is  above  the  Pontiff;  and  if  the  whole  college  of 
cardinals  is  remiss  in  correcting  him  for  the  necessary 
welfare  of  the  Church,  it  is  evident  that  the  rest  of 
the  body,  which  may  chance  to  be  chiefly  made  up  of 


THE  PAPAL  BAN  AGAINST  WYCLIFFE    1 1 1 

the  laity,  may  medicinally  reprove  him  and  induce  him 
to  live  a  better  life." 

Calm  and  unconcerned,  Wycliffe  faced  the  assembly 
and  made  his  spoken  and  written  defence;  and  the 
crowd  assembled  seemed  favourable  to  him,  even 
though  there  was  no  Duke  of  Lancaster  and  no  Lord 
Percy  to  stand  by  him.  (  Once  more  the  people  showed 
themselves  in  favour  of  the  cause  of  reform,  and  to  the 
dismay  of  the  bishops  a  tumult  was  again  threatened, 
when  at  the  supreme  moment  of  difficulty,  Sir  Lewis 
Clifford,  an  officer  in  the  Queen-mother's  Court,  rushed 
in  and  demanded  in  his  mistress'  name  that  no  final 
judgment  should  at  present  be  given.  Sudbury 
acquiesced,  and  only  warned  Wycliffe  to  cease  from 
spreading  his  views,  and  the  whole  bench  of  bishops 
(according  to  Walsingham)  "at  the  wind  of  a  reed 
shaken,  their  speech  became  as  soft  as  oil,  to  the  public 
loss  of  their  own  dignity  and  the  damage  of  the  whole 
Church.  They  were  struck  with  such  fear  that  you 
would  think  them  to  be  as  a  man  who  hears  not,  or 
one  in  whose  mouth  are  no  reproofs." 

No  cne  dared  to  touch  the  brave  rector  of  Lutterworth, 
and  he  quietly  retired  unhurt  and  uncondemned  by 
the  Church's  highest  tribunal  in  England;  and  even 
the  promise  which  the  prelates  endeavoured  to  extract 
from  him  to  abstain  from  future  teaching  of  his  views 

not  made  by  him,  and  accordingly  he  continued 
to  preach  and  to  teach  as  formerly. 

While  the  Lambeth  Conference  was  in  progress,  a 

i  and  more  momentous  Congress  was  proceeding 
in  Rome.  The  death  of  Gregory  XI.  removed  a  part 
ol  tie  BCMMidal  of  a  divided  papacy.  The  conclave 
assembled  to  elect  his  successor  was  met  by  a  rabble 


Ii2     WYCLIFFE  AND  THE  LOLLARDS 

who  demanded  a  Roman  and  no  more  French  Pontiffs. 
The  influence  of  France  was  strong,  and  at  last  in  the 
usual  method  of  compromise  an  Italian  was  elected, 
thus  in  a  measure  satisfying  both  French  and  Romans 
by  abjuring  the  representatives  of  each.  Urban  vi. 
began  well,  and  promised  to  unite  Christendom  again  ; 
but  he  was  a  man  of  strict  ascetic  character,  and  wished 
moral  reform  all  round.  He  desired  a  complete  reform 
of  the  Vatican,  and  the  removal  of  the  sneering  taunt 
that  of  the  Popes  it  could  not  be  said,  "Silver  and 
gold  have  I  none " ;  and  still  less  the  power  to  say, 
"  Arise  and  walk  " ;  and  the  artist's  scoff  who  painted 
the  apostles'  faces  in  the  "Last  Supper"  very  red, 
as  "blushing  at  the  lives  of  their  successors."  The 
result  was  opposition,  and  every  cardinal  save  one 
abandoned  this  papal  "  man  of  morals  "  and  established 
the  Avignon  papacy,  electing  a  Holy  Father  from  among 
themselves,  who  took  the  name  of  Clement  VII.  The 
great  schism  of  forty  years  began,  and  Christendom 
regarded  it  in  amazement.  Wycliffe's  observation 
was,  "Now  is  the  Head  of  Antichrist  cloven  in 
twain,  and  one  part  contendeth  against  the  other." 


CHAPTER  VIII 

The  Friars  and  the  Papacy 

The  strength  and  independence  of  the  Roman  See  was 
so  enormously  enlarged  by  the  rise  of  the  independent 
Franciscan  and  Dominican  friars — the  special  agents, 
defenders,  and  builders  of  the  Roman  throne,  who  by 
their  preaching  brought  about  a  reformation  within 
the  Church  itself,  that  something  more  than  a  mere 
incidental  notice  of  them  seems  necessary,  especially 
as  one  of  the  great  conflicts  of  Wycliffe's  life  was  with 
these  free,  untrammelled  servants  of  the  Pope,  who 
raised  the  spite  and  ill-will  of  the  regular  bishops  and 
clergy,  but  by  their  popular  gifts  and  vigorous  free- 
and-easy  style  of  preaching  gradually  weakened  the 
position  of  the  latter  and  impoverished  their  revenues. 
In  the  Dark  Ages — i.e.  for  four  hundred  years 
after  the  middle  of  the  fourth  century — the  practice 
of  preaching  from  Scripture  gradually  decayed, 
and,  instead,  the  Ethics  of  Aristotle,  or  some  other 
philosopher's  moral  treatises,  were  read.  In  the 
thirteenth  and  fourteenth  centuries,  however,  preaching 
revived  through  the  influence  of  the  two  great  orders 
of  monks — the  Franciscans  and  Dominicans,  founded 
respectively  by  St.  Francis  of  Assisium  and  St. 
Dominic.  Once  when  in  Rome,  St.  Francis  heard  a 
06,  saying, "  Francis,  repair  My  Church  which  falleth 
8 


H4     WYCLIFFE  AND  THE  LOLLARDS 

to  ruin  " ;  thereupon  he  abjured  all  prospects  of  worldly- 
advancement,  and  took  upon  himself  the  great  task 
of  reviving  the  Church.  "Henceforth,"  he  said,  "I 
recognise  no  father  but  Him  who  is  in  heaven."  This 
great  orator  preached  without  studying,  relying  upon 
God ;  his  advice  to  all  his  disciples  was,  "  Be  short, — 
for  even  mediocrity  will  be  forgiven  if  brevity  goes 
along  with  it."  In  this  he  imitated  St.  Augustine, 
some  of  whose  sermons  are  not  more  than  four  to  eight 
minutes  long.  But  though  St.  Francis  did  not  read 
many  books,  he  did  what  was  a  great  deal  better,  and 
what  a  great  many  bookworms  never  do,  he  thought 
a  great  deal,  and  meditated  on  the  works  of  nature 
around  him,  which  preached  to  him  first,  and  whose 
message,  given  in  a  whisper,  he  gave  to  the  world  with 
full  voice  and  clear  utterance  and  nervous  power.  He 
called  the  earth  his  mother,  and  the  moon  his  sister, 
and  said  he  was  related  to  the  winds  and  the  waters, 
the  flowers  and  the  stars ;  indeed,  so  intimate  was  his 
relation  with  the  objects  of  nature,  that  he  came 
actually  to  believe  that  they  had  souls  like  man ;  and 
if  the  hundred  legends  about  this  saint  be  correct,  he 
even  preached  to  the  birds,  as  St.  Antony  of  Padua,  at 
a  later  day,  did  to  the  fishes,  which  lifted  up  their 
heads  out  of  the  water  to  hear  what  he  had  to  say. 

One  or  two  of  these  legends  may  not  be  wholly 
uninteresting: — Once  drawing  nigh  to  Bevagno,  he 
came  to  a  certain  place  where  birds  of  different  kinds 
were  all  gathered  together  ;  when  the  man  of  God  saw 
them  he  ran  hastily  to  the  spot  and  saluted  them,  as  if 
they  had  been  his  fellows  in  reason  (while  they  all 
turned  their  heads  to  him  in  attentive  expectation), 
and   said,  "Brother   birds,   greatly   are   ye   bound   to 


THE  FRIARS  AND   THE  PAPACY      115 

praise  the  Creator  who  clotheth  you  with  feathers,  and 
giveth  you  wings  to  fly  with,  and  a  pure  air  to  breath, 
and  who  careth  for  you  who  have  so  little  care  for 
yourselves."  The  little  birds,  marvellously  commoved, 
began  to  spread  their  wings,  stretch  forth  their  necks, 
and  open  their  beaks,  attentively  gazing  on  him ;  he, 
glowing  in  spirit,  passed  through  the  midst  of  them, 
and  even  touched  them  with  his  robe;  yet  not  one 
stirred  from  its  place  until  the  man  of  God  gave  them 
leave,  when  with  his  blessing  and  the  sign  of  the  cross 
they  all  flew  away. 

When  he  rejoined  his  brethren,  the  simple  and  pure- 
minded  man  began  greatly  to  blame  himself  for  never 
having  preached  to  the  birds  before,  especially  as 
Scripture  said,  "  Preach  the  gospel  to  every  creature." 
He  made  thereafter,  like  the  author  of  "The  Happy 
Land,"  a  practice  of  feeding  birds  every  day,  and  got 
to  be  so  well  known  of  them  and  other  animals  that 
they  would  all  come  to  him  when  he  made  his  appear- 
ance. 

On  his  return  from  Syria,  passing  through  Venice, 
vast  numbers  of  birds  were  singing  at  the  top  of  their 
voices ;  said  he  to  his  companion,  "  Our  sisters,  the 
birds,  are  praising  the  Creator,  let  us  sing  with  them." 
So  he  began  the  sacred  service ;  and  no  sooner  did  he 
begin  than  the  birds  struck  up  in  opposition,  as  birds 
and  men  will  do.  Said  St.  Francis,  "  Be  silent  till  we 
also  have  praised  God  " ;  and  legend  says  that  at  once 
they  ceased  their  trilling,  and  did  not  resume  till 
the  saint  gave  them  leave. 

Preaching  at  Aleriano,  he  could  not  make  himself 
heard  for  the  chirping  of  sparrows,  which  were  then 
bniMing  their  nests.     Pausing  in  his  sermon,  he  said, 


n6     WYCLIFFE  AND  THE  LOLLARDS 

"Sisters,  you  have  talked  enough;  it  is  time  that  I 
should  have  my  turn.  Be  silent,  and  listen  to  the 
Word  of  God";  at  which  rebuke  they  ceased,  and 
observed  a  respectful  silence. 

Once  sitting  with  his  disciple  Leo,  the  song  of  a 
nightingale  greatly  delighted  him ;  he  asked  Leo  to 
join  the  bird  in  singing,  but  he  excused  himself  for  his 
bad  voice,  much  in  the  same  way  as  modern  artistes 
plead  a  sore  throat  or  a  tightness  in  the  chest. 
St.  Francis  took  up  the  chorus  himself,  and  when  he 
stopped  the  bird  took  it  up,  and  so  they  sang  praise 
until  night  was  far  advanced  and  the  saint's  voice 
failed.  Then  he  confessed  that  a  little  bird  had 
vanquished  him  in  singing  divine  praise,  and  so 
calling  the  bird  to  him,  he  thanked  it  for  its  song, 
give  it  the  rest  of  his  bread,  and,  having  blessed  it,  gave 
it  permission  to  fly  away. 

Similarly  we  read  of  him  listening  for  hours  to  a 
grasshopper's  song;  of  his  pet  lamb,  which  followed 
him  everywhere,  even  through  the  streets  of  Rome  and 
in  the  piazza  of  the  Vatican ;  of  his  care  never  to 
trample  on  an  insect  or  worm.  His  love  of  nature 
gave  a  fire  to  his  sermons,  which  had  about  them,  as 
all  acknowledge,  a  systematised  eloquence  which  none 
could  resist.  Though  little  read,  and  no  great  scholar, 
the  most  learned  theologian  remained  silent  in  his 
presence.  His  sermons  were  always  very  short ;  as  he 
said,  Christ's  discourses  were  always  so,  and,  besides, 
"we  are  not  heard  for  our  much  speaking  either  by 
God  or  man." 

The  other  great  founder  of  the  preaching  order  was  St. 
Dominic,  who  when  a  boy  had  a  vision  of  St.  Peter  and 
St.  Paul,  the  former  of  whom  gave  him  a  staff  and  the 


THE  FRIARS  AND  THE  PAPACY      117 

latter  a  volume  of  the  Gospel,  with  the  command,  "  Go, 
preach  the  Word  of  God,  for  He  hath  chosen  thee  for 
that  ministry."  These  two  great  preachers  had  great 
followers;  among  the  Franciscan  preachers  of  fame 
are  Cardinal  Bonaventure  and  St.  Bernardino  (1444) 
of  Sienna/ whose  preaching  made  enemies  rise  and 
embrace  each  other,  caused  gamblers  to  throw  away 
their  dice,  and  women  to  cast  their  jewels  at  his  feet. 
The  Dominican  order  (the  name  Dominican  coming 
from  Domini  canes,  or  Dogs  of  the  Lord — from  their 
watchfulness  over  the  Church's  interests)  boasts  the 
names  of  Luis  de  Granada,  one  of  the  most  powerful 
orators  of  any  age,  whose  discourses  on  Judgment  and 
the  Last  Day  are  even  at  this  time  thrilling  and  awe- 
inspiring;  and  St.  Vincent  of  Ferraris  (1357),  a 
Spaniard  like  the  former,  and  in  temper  and  style 
very  like  the  modern  Whitfield. 

It  is  part  of  the  philosophy  of  history  that  every 
reformation  movement  in  course  of  time  requires 
itself  to  be  reformed.  The  early  British  and  Culdee 
Churches  were  superseded  by  the  Roman,  having 
become  corrupt;  the  Roman  Church  in  England  and 
Scotland  was  superseded  by  the  Reformed,  having 
become  corrupt;  and  so  the  process  of  development 
goes  on.  The  friars  were  Reformers  before  the 
Reformation,  not  so  much  in  the  way  of  doctrine  as  of 
siastical  life,  energy,  and  influence.  But  for 
;  iy  a  generation  before  Wycliffe  both  Franciscans 
and  Dominicans  had  become  depraved  and  decayed. 
The  well-known  picture  of  "The  Neophyte,"  in  which 
tin  youthful  monk  stands  in  his  stall  singing  his 
canticle  with  eyes  lifted  up  to  heaven,  while  beside 
him  stand  big  fat  friars  with  gross  faces  and  sensual 


n8     WYCLIFFE  AND  THE  LOLLARDS 

expression,  is  a  description  in  paint  of  the  beginning 
and  the  ending  of  the  friars  —  the  roseate  hues 
of  early  dawn  followed  by  the  mist  and  dimness  and 
fog  of  a  decadent  day.  The  friars  of  these  days  were 
a  set  of  ignorant,  self-sufficient  knaves,  whose  aim  in 
preaching  was  not  edification  but  self-glorification. 
The  mechanical  nature  of  their  performances  in  the 
pulpit  may  be  judged  of  from  the  numerous  notes  on 
MS.  sermons  of  that  day  which  have  come  down  to 
us.  On  the  margin  one  finds  such  directions  as  these 
for  conduct  in  the  pulpit,  in  monkish  handwriting, 
"  Here,  sit  down  "  ;  "  Stand  up  " ;  "  Mop  yourself  " ; 
"  Here,  roll  your  eyes  " ;  "  Now,  shriek  like  a  devil " ; 
"  Shake  the  crucifix  " ;  "  Hammer  the  pulpit  like  Satan 
himself."  It  was  a  common  practice  amongst  them  on 
mounting  the  pulpit  to  cast  a  contemptuous  glance  all 
round,  to  show  the  little  esteem  in  which  the  orator  held 
his  audience,  and  to  make  them  feel  in  turn  that  they 
were  as  children  in  the  presence  of  Omniscience.  Very 
often  a  boy  was  concealed  in  the  pulpit  to  prompt  the 
preacher  if  he  stuck  for  a  word,  the  pulpit  in  Roman 
Catholic  cathedrals  not  being  the  miserable  little 
barrels  in  which  many  have  to  declaim,  the  pulpit  in 
the  Cathedral  of  Pisa  being  capable  of  holding  more 
than  thirty  people  with  the  greatest  ease.  Their 
sermons  bristled  with  classical  and  patristic  quotations ; 
contained  generally  a  story  or  two,  in  which  Satan,  as 
a  rule,  played  a  prominent  part,  being  in  those  days 
a  much  more  distinct  personality  than  he  is  in  the 
twentieth  century.  The  discourse  was  divided  into 
heads,  and  after  a  point  in  theology  and  another  in 
civil  law  had  been  raised  and  laid,  the  friar  descended 
from   the  rostrum  beaming  with  self-satisfaction  and 


THE  FRIARS  AND  THE  PAPACY      119 

self-complacency.  These  friars  were  generally  men  of 
little  education  and  considerable  assurance  —  who 
pleased  the  mob,  and  certainly  pleased  themselves. 
Not  to  speak  of  their  frequent  irreverence  and  even 
indecency,  the  absurdity  of  some  of  their  sermons 
strikes  us -nowadays  as  intolerable;  for  example,  one 
of  them  preaching  on  the  "Book  sealed"  in  the 
Revelation,  began  his  sermon  with  a  general  disquisition 
on  books  in  general,  in  which  he  passed  in  review 
almost  every  book  that  had  ever  been  written,  and 
then,  having  wandered  from  his  subject  as  far  as  he 
could,  he  caught  the  thread  of  connection  by  saying 
that  "these  books  were  not  in  the  least  like  the  book 
that  was  sealed,"  and  so  on,  till  at  the  close  of  the 
discourse  the  audience  had  heard  all, — everything  in 
heaven  and  earth,  except  the  sealed  book  which  the 
preacher  had  proposed  for  his  homily. 

The  Dominicans  and  Franciscans  swore  by  their 
vows  to  perpetual  poverty;  but  by  the  same  quibble 
which  forbids  the  Quaker  to  serve  in  the  wars,  but  at 
the  same  time  does  not  prevent  him  from  giving  an 
antagonist  "  a  friendly  fall "  which  might  break  every 
bone  in  his  body,  these  orders,  while  individually  the 
brethren  could  possess  nothing,  might  as  corporations 
hold  as  much  gear  as  they  liked, — lands,  houses,  forests, 
hunting-grounds,  fisheries,  orchards,  cattle,  wool,  cloth. 
In  course  of  time  they  became  the  wealthiest  of  the 
wealthy,  their  lives  the  most  luxurious,  and  their 
monastic  establishments  the  most  magnificent.  The 
Franciscan  order  of  preachers,  who  were  also  known  as 
"  Cordeliers,"  "  Grey  Friars,"  or  "  Minorites  "  (hence  the 
iuories"  in  London),  arrived  in  England  about  the 
I  2:i0,  and  wore  at  first  a  grey,  but  afterwards  a 


120     WYCLIFFE  AND  THE  LOLLARDS 

brown  habit,  girded  with  a  knotted  rope  and  a  black 
hood, — a  habit  not  unlike  that  of  the  Great  St.  Bernard 
brothers  of  to-day  in  the  Alps.  The  rule  required 
bare  feet;  but  some  used  sandals,  just  as  the  St. 
Bernard  monks  wear  heavy  leather  boots.  After  1329, 
Scotland  had  a  separate  director-general  of  the  order 
from  England.  One  of  the  greatest  poets  Scotland  has 
ever  produced — William  Dunbar  (c.  14G5) — was  a 
native  of  Saltoun,  quite  near  Haddington,  and  a 
member  of  the  order  of  the  Grey  Friars.  The  first  idea 
of  the  Franciscans  or  Grey  Friars  was  to  go  to  the 
poorest  and  most  neglected  parts  of  the  country  and 
town  and  infuse  Christian  ideas.  At  first  their 
churches  were  small  and  plain,  and  their  convents 
were  mere  cells  of  mud  and  wood,  with  a  ditch  round 
about.  By  the  fourteenth  and  fifteenth  centuries, 
however,  their  churches  had  become  rich  and  grand, 
and  their  monasteries  luxurious.  Pocock,  in  his 
Repressor,  says  (xii.  543):  "Some  of  the  lay  party 
blame  and  hold  that  religious  monasteries,  namely,  of 
the  Begging  Religious,  have  within  their  gates  and 
close,  great,  large,  wide,  high,  and  stately  mansions  for 
lords  and  ladies  therein  to  rest,  abide,  and  dwell,  and 
this,  that  they  have  large  and  wide  churches,  like 
somewhat  to  cathedral  and  mother  churches  of  dioceses." 
The  Franciscans  defended  themselves  for  erecting  stately 
churches  by  urging  "so  that  there  be  not  over  great 
curiosity,  greatness,  preciousness,  or  costliness,  the 
more  multitude  may  be  received  together  for  to  hear 
therein  preaching  to  be  made  in  rainy  days,  and  be 
eased  in  their  devotions  made  to  God,  while  they  stand, 
or  sit,  or  kneel,  room  for  each  from  other."  The 
argument  used  in  favour  of  their  ample  hospitalities 


THE  FRIARS  AND  THE  PAPACY      121 

was  that  there  was  "  mutual  benefit  to  host  and  guest " 
by  intercourse  and  helpfulness,  whilst  the  alms  and 
the  interest  of  travellers  and  passers-by,  especially  if 
they  were  of  distinction,  were  increased  by  such  visits 
and  visitors. 

In  course^  of  time  a  reformed  branch  of  the  Franciscan 
order  arose  under  the  title  of  "Conventuals"  or 
■  Recollects,"  and  these  reformed  Franciscans  had  houses 
at  Berwick,  Dumfries,  Dundee,  Inverkeithing,  Rox- 
burgh, Douglas,  and  Haddington.  The  Franciscans  by  a 
variety  of  pious  frauds  endeavoured  to  absorb  the  wealth 
of  the  land.  One  original  device  was  to  induce  people 
to  get  buried  at  death  in  the  habit  of  the  order,  as  St. 
Francis  once  a  year  descends  from  heaven  to  purgatory 
and  delivers  the  souls  of  all  those  who  wear  the  favoured 
uniform.  The  result  was  that  multitudes  acted  on  the 
recommendation,  to  the  great  profit  of  the  order. 

Another  practice  was  characteristic  of  the  Fran- 
ins, — the  kidnapping  of  children  and  the  shutting 
of  them  up  in  monasteries  in  order  to  fill  the  ranks  of 
the  brotherhood,  and  also  provide  workers  whose  labour 
became  highly  profitable  to  the  various  houses,  though 
at  the  same  time  it  destroyed  the  ordinary  trade  of  the 
neighbourhoods  by  underselling  and  cutting  of  rates. 

The  Dominicans  arrived  in  England  in  1321,  and 
finally  succeeded  in  establishing  forty-three  houses. 
Their  black  cloak  and  hood  gave  rise  to  their  popular 
name,  which  still  is  traceable  in  almost  every  large 
D  in  England  and  Scotland  —  "Black  Friars." 
There  were  two  sections  of  the  Dominicans — one  went 
forward  to  convert  heretics,  and  the  other  by  the 
NT  of  the  Inquisition  to  slay  them.  These  two 
bands,  the   Pope's    special    defenders  and   assistants, 


122     WYCLIFFE  AND  THE  LOLLARDS 

formed  a  powerful  army  which  menaced  the  liberties 
of  the  people  both  negatively  and  positively — sucking 
up  the  richness  and  substance  out  of  the  lands  on 
which  they  settled,  and  actively  attacking  any 
adversary  of  the  Holy  See  and  bringing  him  to  a 
strict  account.  After  the  advent  of  the  Dominicans, 
the  novelty  of  their  preaching  excited  widespread 
interest  and  gave  them  great  influence,  and  ultimately 
enormous  wealth.  Their  noble  London  minster  is 
described  in  The  Vision  of  Piers  Plowman — "with 
pillars  ypaint  and  polished  full  clene  and  queyntly 
corven  with  curious  knottes,  and  shining  windows 
wel  ywrought  wyde  up  alofte,  and  in  the  arches  fairly 
carved,  and  crochettes  in  corners  with  knottes  of 
gold."  He  describes  the  great  cross,  the  private 
posterns,  the  orchards  and  arbours,  and  then  the 
cloisters,  etc. : 

"  Then  came  to  that  cloister  and  gaped  abouten 
How  it  was  pillared  and  paint  and  pourtrayed  well  clean 
All  y-heled  [covered]  with  lead  low  to  the  stones, 
And  y-paved  with  peyntil  [tiles]  each  point  after  other, 
With  conduits  of  clean  tin,  closed  all  about 
With  lavers  of  latten  lovely  y-greithed  [adorned]. 

Then  was  the  chapter-house  wrought  as  a  great  church 
Carven  and  covered  and  quaintly  entailed 
With  seemly  cielure  y-set  on  loft 

As  a  parliament  house  [the  chapter-house  of  Westminster] 
y-painted  about. 

Then  fared  into  Frater,  and  found  there  another 
An  hall  for  an  high  king,  an  household  to  holden, 
With  broad  boards  abouten,  y-benched  well  clean 
With  window-  of  glaaa  wrought  as  a  church. 
Then  walked  further  and  went  all-abouten, 


THE  FRIARS  AND  THE  PAPACY      123 

And  saw  halls  full  high  and  houses  full  noble, 
Chambers  with  chemneys  and  chapels  gay, 
And  kitchens  for  an  high  king  in  castles  to  holden. 
And  their  dortor  y-dight  [provided]  with  doors  full  strong, 
Firmary  and  Frater  with  fele  [many]  mo[re]  houses, 
And  all  strong  stone  wall  stern  [level]  upon  height 
With  gay  garret  and  great,  and  each  hole  y-glazed, 
And  other  houses  even  to  harbour  the  queen." 

[Wright,  ii.  309  ;  Wharton,  ii.  138.] 


The  great  Black  Friars  monastery  thus  elaborately 
described  must  have  been  a  magnificent  structure, 
although  nowadays  the  district  is  associated  with  a 
Thames  Bridge,  a  London  street,  and  a  metropolitan 
railway  station  with  its  sounds  and  smells. 

The  Dominicans  were  early  introduced  into  Scotland 
by  King  Alexander  11.,  who,  when  in  Paris,  saw  St. 
Dominic,  and  begged  him  to  send  some  of  his  preachers 
to  Scotland  to  teach  the  people.  It  is  said  the  King 
founded  eight  houses  for  these  Black  or  Preaching 
Friars,  who  wore  a  thick  black  worsted  cope  over  a 
kirtle  of  clean  white  linen,  a  black,  afterwards  a  brown 
hood,  a  white  scapular,  and  boots.  Bishop  Clement 
of  Dunblane  received  the  kirtle  from  St.  Dominic 
himself.  Traces  of  their  presence  can  be  found  all 
over  Great  Britain  in  the  Blackfriars  streets  and 
places  and  districts,  if,  indeed,  parts  of  the  fine  old 
buildings  are  not  still  standing.  Only  a  century 
ago  or  so  the  beautiful  gardens  and  gilded  arbour  or 
Monk's  Tower,  richly  painted  with  the  seasons  and 
the  Virtues  and  Vices,  from  which  King  Robert  viewed 
the  combo!  of  the  thirty  rival  clan-champions,  were 
in  evidence  at  Perth,  where  a  splendid  minster  was 
raised  by  the   Dominicans,  who   also  had  fine  hoi 


I24     WYCLIFFE  AND  THE  LOLLARDS 

at  St.  Ninians  [Stirling],  St.  Monance,  Wigtoun, 
Montrose,  Linlithgow,  Dysart,  Elgin,  Glasgow,  Edin- 
burgh, Haddington,  Inverness,  Aberdeen,  Dundee,  Ayr, 
Berwick,  Cupar-Fife,  and  elsewhere.  In  England  their 
houses  were  extraordinarily  numerous,  and  latterly 
magnificently  equipped  and  extravagantly  conducted. 

Events  favourable  to  the  spread  of  Wycliffe's 
influence  in  the  country  followed  each  other  with 
rapid  succession.  The  stormy  Lambeth  Synod  had 
ended  in  smoke,  and  the  people  were,  on  the  whole, 
favourable  to  the  earnest,  brave  rector  who  first 
thought  out  his  religious,  ecclesiastical,  and  social 
theories  on  the  sweet  banks  of  the  Swift,  from  which, 
lower  down,  in  leafy  Warwickshire  at  Stratford-on- 
Avon,  the  great  world-voice  of  Humanity's  dramatist 
spoke  two  hundred  years  later,  and  then  in  the  busy 
haunts  of  scholars  and  politicians  and  warriors,  spoke 
them  out  with  no  uncertain  sound.  But  the  state  of 
affairs  at  Rome  —  at  the  very  headquarters  of  the 
papacy,  was  such  as  to  enfeeble  and  lower  the  entire 
life  and  vigour  of  the  Church.  It  was  bad  enough 
in  a  conflict  between  France  and  Italy  as  to  which 
nation  should  have  the  honour  of  providing  Christendom 
with  a  Holy  Father,  to  have  the  Chair  of  St.  Peter 
moved  from  Rome  to  Avignon,  and  to  have  the  Head 
of  Christendom  passing  a  seventy  years'  Babylonish 
captivity  there;  but  it  was  infinitely  worse  to  have 
a  Pope  at  each  place,  and  this  was  actually  the  case 
when  Wycliffe  in  1378  renewed  his  reforming  efforts, 
and  attacked  the  Church's  ill-gotten  and  ill-administered 
treasure,  and  the  vices,  follies,  and  luxury  of  the  Black 
and  White  Friars. 

Gregory   xi.   died    on    27th   March   1378,   and   the 


THE  FRIARS  AND  THE  PAPACY      125 

cardinals  assembled  to  elect  his  successor.  The  angry 
Roman  rabble  demanded  an  Italian  Pope  and  no 
Frenchman,  and  the  cardinals  elected  an  Italian — the 
Archbishop  of  Barri,  who  took  the  name  of  Urban  VI. 
The  Roman  populace  demanded  a  Roman,  and  French 
interest  was  also  strong  in  the  sacred  college ;  but  the 
compromise  by  which  neither  a  Roman  nor  a  French- 
man but  an  Italian  received  the  tiara,  seemed  likely 
to  give  general  satisfaction.  Urban  was,  however,  an 
ascetic,  severe  in  his  rule  and  methods,  intolerably 
haughty,  and  infinitely  vain.  It  was  not  long  till  his 
cardinals  turned  against  him,  and  finally,  with  one 
exception,  they  declared  his  election  null  and  void, 
having  been  made  under  intimidation ;  and  fore- 
gathering at  Fondi,  one  of  the  endless  townships 
which  fringe  the  most  beautiful  bay  in  the  world, 
they  elected  at  Naples  another  Pontiff,  who  was  pro- 
claimed Clement  vii.,  and  established  his  Court  at  the 
old  Babylonish  retreat  of  Avignon. 

The  extraordinary  vision  was  thus  presented  to 
Christendom  of  a  divided  papacy,  of  two  Vicars  of 
Christ,  one  at  Rome  and  one  at  Avignon.  For  half 
a  century  this  dreadful  schism  lasted,  to  the  scandal 
of  the  Christian  world.  "  Now,"  said  Wycliffe,  "  is 
Head  of  Antichrist  cloven  in  twain,  and  one  part 
a i nst  the  other." 

The  event  was  a  catastrophe  for  the  Church — the 
greatest  since  the  final  separation  between  East  and 
West,  and  gave  a  shock  to  the  religious  sentiment  of 
Europe.  Endless  contentions  and  wars  between  the 
partisans  of  the  rival  Popes  took  place,  and  under 
the  strain,  and  with  the  example  before  them  in  the 
highest  places,  the  ordinary  clergy  sank  into  depravity 


126     WYCLIFFE  AND  THE  LOLLARDS 

and  corruption,  and  in  their  hopelessness,  as  with  the 
lepers  in  the  Holy  Land,  consoled  themselves  with 
sin  upon  sin.  The  people  followed  next,  and  were 
either  overwhelmed  with  doubt  as  to  their  relation- 
ship to  the  Head  of  the  Church,  or  degenerated  into 
unbelief  and  indifference.  History — "  that  Mississippi 
of  falsehoood"  as  it  has  been  called — is  very  silent 
as  to  the  spiritual  and  social  horrors  of  that  age,  but 
the  silence  is  eloquent,  as  eloquent  as  the  silence  of 
the  monastic  records  during  times  of  long-protracted 
peace.  Wycliffe  at  this  crisis,  which  deeply  affected 
him,  delivered  his  soul  on  the  subject  in  his  tract 
On  the  Schism  of  the  Popes,  and  pointed  out  how 
the  hierarchy  being  divided  against  itself  could  only 
have  the  result  of  upsetting  all  good  order  among 
clergy  and  people.  "Emperors  and  Kings,"  he  says, 
"should  help  in  this  cause  to  maintain  God's  law,  to 
recover  the  heritage  of  the  Church,  and  to  destroy 
the  foul  sins  of  clerks,  saving  their  persons.  Thus 
shall  peace  be  established  and  simony  destroyed." 

While  these  momentous  events  were  happening  on 
the  Continent,  Wycliffe  was  sowing  beside  the  peaceful 
waters  which  ripple  past  Lutterworth  on  their  way 
to  the  far-off  sea.  Busy  as  a  pastor,  he  preached 
constantly  —  sometimes  in  Latin,  but  to  his  own 
parishioners  in  homely  English.  Nearly  three  hundred 
of  his  village  sermons  remain.  Besides  visiting  the 
sick,  the  aged,  and  the  dying,  whether  freeman  or 
slave,  with  all  the  devotion  of  Chaucer's  good  priest, 
his  pen  was  busy  with  his  translation  of  the  Bible 
into  homely  English, —  the  great  work  of  his  life 
spreading  over  several  years, — with  which  he  hoped 
amid  the  many  discordant  voices  of  the  age  to  sound 


THE  FRIARS  AND  THE  PAPACY      127 

forth  over  England  the  true  note  of  the  gospel- 
trumpet.  If  ecclesiastical  powers  fail  and  disappoint, 
a  glory  still  gilds  the  sacred  page,  and  that  to  him 
was  enough.  He  issued  at  this  time  his  work  on 
The  Truth  and  Meaning  of  Scripture,  and  main- 
tained the-  supreme  authority  of  Scripture,  the  right 
of  private  judgment,  and  the  sufficiency  of  Christ's 
Law  to  rule  Christ's  Church  without  any  Vicar  of 
Christ  or  infallible  Pontiff  to  interpret  it. 

But  his  attack  on  the  friars  is  the  most  outstanding 
event  in  his  public  life  at  this  time,  and  he  entered 
into  it  with  characteristic  zest  and  spirit,  declaring 
that  the  split  in  the  papacy  had  taken  place  "in 
order  that  in  Christ's  name,  they  may  the  more  easily 
overcome  them  both."  In  these  circumstances  *  he 
vigorously  assailed  the  Black  and  Grey  Friars,  who, 
he  declared,  were  sucking  the  country  of  its  wealth 
and  resources.  * 

The  dislocation  of  papal  rule  was  favourable  to  the 
spread  of  Wyclift'e's  views  and  doctrines,  for  the  death 
of  Gregory  XI.  made  his  Bulls  invalid  unless  his 
successor  renewed  them,  and  Pope  Urban  had  too 
much  to  do  in  the  way  of  conserving  the  rights  of 
Rome  as  against  Avignon  to  think  very  much  of 
anything  else.  Wycliffe  accordingly  recommenced 
his  crusade,  and  for  three  years  he  prosecuted  his 
work  unmolested  and  with  increasing  knowledge  and 
deepened  convictions.  The  Church's  property  received 
i  his  attention  and  criticism,  and  he  proposed  to 
King  and  Parliament  a  scheme  for  the  complete  reform 
of  the  entire  ecclesiastical  estate.  The  treasure  of  the 
Church  was,  according  to  Canon  Law,  inalienable,  and 
to   deprive  her  of  anything   in   kind   or   money  was 


128     WYCLIFFE  AND  THE  LOLLARDS 

sacrilege.  The  Church  property  was  free  of  all  taxes 
and  public  burdens;  and  while  a  voluntary  subsidy 
might  in  time  of  emergency  be  given  by  the  Church, 
no  taxes  or  legal  burdens  rested  on  her.  The  Church's 
very  wealth  became  her  snare,  and  Wycliffe  complained 
of  the  pride,  indolence,  and  luxury  of  Churchmen. 
His  doctrine,  which  created  an  enormous  flutter  in 
ecclesiastical  circles,  was  that  as  the  Church's  treasure 
had  come  to  her  neither  by  purchase  nor  conquest,  but 
by  gift  and  free-will  offering  for  specific  religious 
purposes,  so  she  was  really  only  the  administrator  of 
a  great  and  a  sacred  trust,  and  the  nation,  King,  and 
Parliament  were  bound  to  see  that  she  fulfilled  the 
conditions  under  which  that  treasure  had  been  given. 
Evil  conduct  cancelled  the  use  of  these  gifts  either 
in  individuals  or  in  the  Church  generally.  If  the 
Church  failed  to  do  her  duty,  she  then  failed  to  deserve 
the  benefits  which  pious  forefathers  had  secured  for 
her. 

In  this  connection  more  especially  he  attacked  the 
wealthy  Franciscan  and  Dominican  Friars,  and  as  on 
former  occasions  showed  up  their  greed,  luxury, 
indolence,  and  even  vice.  The  "  voluntary  humility  " 
of  these  orders  he  declared  was  a  farce.  >  These  evils 
had  already  been  complained  of  by  loyal  and  leading 
Churchmen  themselves,  notably  by  Grossetete  the 
bishop  of  Lincoln,  and  Fitzralph  the  archbishop  of 
Armagh,  while  in  the  Canterbury  Tales — notably  in 
the  "  Pardoner,"  Geoffrey  Chaucer  held  up  to  mockery 
the  wandering  friars  who  went  from  county  to  county 
and  parish  to  parish,  ignoring .  the  parish  priests,  and 
not  only  doing  their  work,  but  absorbing  their  emolu- 
ments, to  the  enormous  loss  of  the  latter,  whose  com- 


THE  FRIARS  AND  THE  PAPACY      129 

plaints  were  neither  few  nor  feeble.  The  "  mendicant 
orders,"  including  not  only  the  Black  and  Grey 
Friars,  but  the  Carmelites  or  White  Friars  and  the 
Augustinians  or  Austin  Friars,  could  celebrate  Mass 
anywhere,  preach,  hear  confessions,  grant  pardons,  and, 
in  fact,  were  serious  rivals  to  the  stated,  placed, 
parochial  clergy.  As  a  result,  their  original  methods 
and  brazen  boldness  realised  their  ends,  and  wealth 
flowed  into  their  coffers.  Not  only  were  the  parochial 
priests  thus  deprived  of  functions  and  emoluments, 
but  the  universities  themselves  suffered  greatly,  as 
the  valuable  posts  were  one  by  one  seized  by  the 
friars,  who  became  also  lecturers ;  and  young  men  in 
large  numbers  were  induced  to  forsake  their  employ- 
ments and  take  the  vows  of  St.  Francis  or  St.  Dominic. 
Following  this,  parents  would  not  send  their  sons  to 
Oxford  or  Cambridge  lest  they  should  be  led  away ; 
and  the  number  of  students  diminished  alarmingly, 
notwithstanding  University  Statutes  of  all  kinds 
enacted  against  the  friars'  incursion. 

The  early  Franciscans  and  Dominicans  were  men 
of  holy  fire  and  divine  enthusiasm,  and  produced  a 
reformation  inside  the  Church  second  only  to  that  of 
Luther.  At  first,  in  token  of  humility  they  begged 
their  bread — an  act,  especially  for  men  of  pride  and 
birth,  of  extreme  self-crucifixion ;  in  later  times  they 
begged  with  vigour,  not  to  crucify,  but  to  enrich 
thru  1  selves.  And  thus  it  was  that  a  poor  penniless 
order,  owning  nothing  in  the  wide  world  but  a  habit, 
a  staff,  and  a  pair  of  boots,  became  enormously  wealthy, 
founded  religious  houses  which  for  dignity  and  wealth 
those  of  the  monastic  orders,  ousted  the 
regular  clergy  from  their  places,  absorbing  their 
9 


130     WYCLIFFE  AND  THE  LOLLARDS 

functions,  especially  the  profitable  ones  of  pardoning 
and  absolving,  and  ended  by  completely  superseding 
them  in  all  rich  and  valuable  posts  in  the  universities. 
Finally,  they  obtained  so  much  power  and  influence  in 
the  country,  that  from  being  nothing  and  possessing 
nothing,  they  became  dangerously  rich,  alarmingly 
powerful,  and  hopelessly  lazy. 

Had  they  even  given  any  substantial  return  to  the 
community,  however  trifling,  for  the  vast  sums  of 
money  they  absorbed, — for  the  broad  lands  they 
monopolised, — the  burden  would  perhaps  have  been 
tolerable ;  but,  unlike  the  monkish  orders  who,  though 
not  without  their  faults,  made  their  religious  houses 
the  schools,  the  asylums,  the  hospitals,  the  poorhouses 
of  the  country — making  the  care  of  the  destitute  their 
special  business,  and  who,  when  that  debased  monarch 
Henry  vni.  scattered  them  and  greedily  grasped  at 
their  revenues,  were  sadly  missed  by  the  thousands  and 
thousands  of  poor  miserables  turned  adrift  without  a 
friend  in  the  world.  On  the  other  hand,  the  Black 
and  Grey  Friars  took  everything  and  gave  nothing : 
they  had  even  given  up  their  preaching  to  a  great 
extent,  for  which  they  had  from  the  Pope  a  roving 
commission;  and  were  simply  a  dead  weight  on  the 
country.  So  that,  what  with  the  Pope's  annual 
tribute  for  himself  and  the  friars'  wholesale  greed 
and  grasping  within,  the  country  ran  a  great  risk 
of  being  utterly  impoverished  and  rendered  hope- 
lessly bankrupt. 
^  Wycliflfe  was  at  this  time  living  partly  at  Lutter- 
worth and  partly  at  Oxford:  severe  illness  brought 
on  by  trial  and  hard  work  came  upon  him.  The  friars 
venturing  to  his  beside,  on  one  occasion,  adjured  him 


THE  FRIARS  AND  THE  PAPACY      131 

to  revoke  his  errors.  Wycliffe  listened  to  them 
quietly  till  they  had  their  breath  quite  out.  Then, 
beckoning  to  a  servant  to  help  him  to  sit  up  in  bed, 
he  looked  steadily  at  his  cowled  and  sandalled  visitors, 
and  then  suddenly  scared  them  out  of  reason,  so  that 
they  were  thankful  to  beat  a  hasty  retreat,  by  crying 
out  at  the  top  of  his  voice — "  I  shall  not  die  but  live, 
and  declare  the  evil  deeds  of  the  friars."  ** 


CHAPTER  IX 

Wycliffe's  Lollards,  Bible  and  Tracts 

With  a  view  to  counteract  the  influence  of  the  friars, 
Wycliffe  next  resolved  upon  a  positive  movement,  and 
instituted  an  order  of  "  poor  preachers  " — whose  vows 
were  not  in  name  but  in  reality  those  of  poverj^, 
chastity,  and  obedience.  These  were  chiefly  Oxford 
graduates  trained  by  Wycliffe  himself,  and  sent  by 
him  all  over  the  land  to  preach  a  plain  and  simple 
Christian  faith.  Their  commission  was  to  preach 
the  gospel ;  not  to  dispense  pardons  or  celebrate  Masses 
for  the  living  or  the  dead,  but  simply  clothed  with 
russet  cloak,  barefooted,  and  staff  in  hand,  to  tell  the 
message  of  the  Cross  in  the  towns  and  villages  of 
Britain.  They  came  afterwards  to  be  called  Lollards, 
and  their  influence  stretched  all  over  England  and 
even  to  the  lowlands  of  Scotland;'  and  their  simple 
preaching  was  eagerly  listened  to  by  the  people,  to 
whom  the  preaching  of  a  simple  gospel  was  a  novelty. 
The  preaching  friars  gave  as  their  discourses  a  hash  of 
ecclesiastical,  legendary,  and  classical  lore  not  unmixed 
with  unseemly  if  not  profane  jocularities,  and  always 
ending  with  a  strong  appeal  for  filthy  lucre — a  kind 
of  discourse  which  in  time  became  monotonous  and 
stale.  f  The  simple  Lollards, 'on  the  other  hand,  versed 
in  the  simple  life  of  Christ,  and  profoundly  impressed 

132 


WYCLIFFE'S  BIBLE  AND  TRACTS      133 

with  a  sense  of  His  love  for  sinners  and  of  the  suitability 
of  the  gospel  of  love  and  peace  for  the  world/ went 
from  town  to  town  and  from  village  to  village  preach- 
ing to  the  populace.  If  forbidden  the  use  of  the 
parish  churches,  as  they  generally  were,  they  went 
to  the  churchyards ;  one  of  them  on  one  occasion 
making  a  pulpit  of  two  millstones  in  the  High  Street 
of  Leicester,  and  there  preached  to  an  immense  multitude, 
in  defiance  of  the  bishop.  A  favourite  place  for  their 
services  was  under  the  old  oak-trees ;  which  from  the 
remotest  times  have  been  characteristic  of  the  peaceful 
village  greens  of  Old  England,  some  of  these  old  oak 
monarchs  still  surviving,  though  much  decayed,  and 
called  to  this  day  "  Gospel  Oaks."  "  Go  and  preach,"  said 
WycKffe  often  to  his  disciples,  "it  is  the  sublimest 
work.  After  your  sermon  is  ended,  do  you  visit  the 
sick,  the  aged,  the  poor,  the  blind,  and  the  lame,  and 
succour  them  according  to  your  ability." 

These  russet-robed  preachers,'  who  received  the  name 
of  Lollards  either  from  the  low  singing  tones  in  which 
they  spoke,  or  because  they  were  "  heretical  tares," 
^survived  for  more  than  a  century  and  a  half  in 
England  :  they  spread  to  the  North,  and  were  to  be 
seen  at  times  in  the  High  Street  of  Edinburgh:  they 
\\  •  re  found  even  on  the  Continent,  and  had  at  last  a 
lement  in  Bohemia,  where  they  survived  for  many 
years,  and  finally  joined  themselves  to  the  followers 
of  John  Hus,  the  famous  Bohemian  Reformer.  ! 

Dora  of    active   life   and  strenuous 

\\  v<  I'ti  \va<  in  his  quiet  hours  steadily  pro- 
ceeding with  hi  )i  Bible,  regarding  which  a 
fuller  account  will  !»•'  given  later  on.  Other  works 
of  divinity  belong  to  this  period, — works  which  were 


134     WYCLIFFE  AND  THE  LOLLARDS 

no  doubt  in  the  main  the  summaries  of  his  lectures 
in  Oxford  University.  His  Summa  Theologice,  or 
general  body  of  divinity,  is  probably  the  gist  of  his 
theological  teaching  in  Oxford.  But  probably  the 
most  remarkable  and  characteristic  work  of  this  time 
was  his  Trialogiis, — a  series  of  discussions  between 
the  three  advocates — Truth,  Falsehood,  and  Wisdom. 
It  is  a  dialectic  treatise  on  the  central  Roman  dogma 
of  Transubstantiation,  which  he  absolutely  and  finally 
rejects.  In  his  other  divinity  works  of  this  period  he 
is  seen  gradually  drifting  towards  this  final  refusal  to 
accept  the  dogma,  more  especially  in { his  lectures 
delivered  in  1381,  which  were  regarded  as  a  challenge 
to  the  Church,  and  evoked  from  the  Chancellor  and 
twelve  doctors  of  Oxford  University  a  counter-appeal 
in  which  Wycliffe's  errors  are  thus  summed  up: 
"  1.  That  in  the  sacrament  of  the  altar  the  substance 
of  material  bread  and  wine  do  remain  the  same  after 
consecration  that  they  were  before.  2.  That  in  that 
venerable  sacrament  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ 
are  not  essentially  nor  substantially  nor  even  bodily, 
but  figuratively  or  topically,  so  that  Christ  is  not 
there  truly  or  verily  in  His  own  proper  Person."  The 
Church's  counter-statement  concludes  with  a  strongly- 
worded  admonition  to  the  faithful  to  avoid  these 
heresies :  —  "The  Chancellor  admonishes  and  very 
strictly  inhibits  that  no  one  for  the  future,  of  any 
degree,  state,  or  condition,  do  publicly  maintain,  teach, 
or  defend  the  two  aforesaid  erroneous  assertions,  or 
either  of  them,  in  the  schools  or  out  of  them,  in  this 
University,  on  pain  of  imprisonment  and  suspension 
from  all  scholastic  exercises,  and  also  on  pain  of  the 
greater  excommunication."  ) 


WYCLIFFE'S  BIBLE  AND  TRACTS      135 

Wycliffe,  like  Luther,  posted  up  in  Oxford  twelve 
theses  denying  transubstantiation,  and  challenged  the 
world  to  prove  its  truth.  "  The  consecrated  Host,"  he 
says  in  one  of  them,  "  which  we  see  upon  the  altar 
is  neither  Christ  nor  any  part  of  Christ,  but  an 
efficacious  -sign  of  Him."  The  Chancellor  of  Oxford 
University,  William  Barton,  was  assisted  in  his  defence 
of  the  Church's  doctrine  by  four  secular  doctors  and 
eight  monks,  and  finally  'an  officer  was  despatched  to 
the  School  of  the  Augustinians  in  which  Wycliffe  was 
lecturing  to  his  students  on  the  Eucharist,  and  read  to 
him  the  sentence  of  condemnation. 

For  the  moment  he  was  taken  aback  by  the 
suddenness  of  the  summons,  and  then  recovering  his 
composure,  he  said — "  You  ought  first  to  have  shown 
me  to  be  in  error,"  and  thereupon  he  challenged  the 
authors  of  the  counterblast  to  refute  his  published 
opinions.  He  was  then  told  that  there  were  only 
two  alternatives  for  him, — either  to  be  silent  or  to 
be  imprisoned, — to  which  he  replied — "  Then  I  appeal 
to  the  King  and  the  Parliament."  He  rose  from  his 
professor's  chair,  which  he  was  never  to  occupy 
again,  and  quietly  withdrew  to  his  beloved  Lutter- 
worth. ■ 

A  great  political  crisis  came  to  England  in  1381,  in 
which  the  people,  oppressed  by  long  and  heavy 
taxation,  led  by  Wat  Tyler,  rose  up  and  marched 
upon  London.  John  Ball,  who  had  been  preaching 
for  twenty  years  before  the  institution  of  Wycliffe's 
"poor  priests,"  associated  himself  with  the  rising, 
himself  a  priest  of  dissolute  habits  and  poor  reputa- 
holding  strong  communistic  views;  and  a 
<l<t.nnined     attempt     was     made     by     the     Chuvotf" 


136     WYCLIFFE  AND  THE  LOLLARDS 

authorities  to  associate  him  with  Wyclift'e  and  the 
Lollard  teaching.  Arrived  in  London,  this  great 
socialistic  crowd  was  joined  by  the  scum  of  the  city, 
and  there  were  angry  threatenings  of  revolution, 
"  red  ruin,  and  the  breaking  up  of  laws."  The  Duke 
of  Lancaster's  great  palace  in  the  Savoy  was  burned 
down,  and  Archbishop  Sudbury,  the  Primate,  who  also 
held  the  office  of  Lord  Chancellor  of  the  kingdom,  was 
beheaded  in  the  Tower.  Stern  repressive  measures 
were  taken  by  the  Government,  and  Wat  Tyler's  com- 
munistic rising  was  quelled  and  the  leaders  were 
with  hundreds  of  followers  executed. 

At  once  Wycliffe's  name  was  mentioned  in  connec- 
tion with  the  rising,  though  the  insurrectionists  had 
all  along  expressed  their  sympathy  with  the  mendicant 
friars  who  were  his  enemies.  But  the  ecclesiastical 
authorities  thought  it  a  great  opportunity  to  crush 
Lollardism  through  associating  it  with  the  base  and 
revolutionary  movement  of  Tyler  and  Ball,  and 
accordingly  the  new  archbishop,  Courtenay,  bishop 
of  London,  who  succeeded  the  murdered  Sudbury,  at 
once  instituted  proceedings  against  the  Reformer. 
Courtenay  was  translated  to  Canterbury  by  a  Bull 
of  Urban  vi.,  the  Roman  Pope,  and  being  thus  pro- 
moted for  his  attachment  to  the  Roman  claimant  to 
the  Vicarage  of  Christ,  he  was  particularly  anxious 
to  prove  his  devotion  to  his  benefactor  by  stamping 
out  the  new  heresy. 

In  the  spring  of  1382,  Wyclift'e  presented  his 
appeal  from  the  Chancellor  of  Oxford  University  to 
the  King  in  Council  and  to  Parliament.  Lancaster, 
foreseeing  evil  to  his  old  friend,  advised  him  to  refrain 
from  attacking  the  doctrine  of  the  Church.     So  long 


WYCLIFFE'S  BIBLE  AND  TRACTS      137 

as  Wycliffe  attacked  abuses  and  lowered  the  pride 
and  diminished  the  wealth  of  the  Church,  Lancaster 
was  with  him,  but  he  would  not  follow  him  into  an 
attack  on  the  Church's  creed.  But  it  was  of  no 
avail.  Wycliffe  declared  his  disbelief  in  transub- 
stantiation  and  other  Roman  dogmas,  and  stated  it 
as  his  belief  that  a  third  of  the  clergy  of  England 
were  with  him.  As  for  himself,  he  was  prepared  to 
die  rather  than  recant.  In  The  Wicket,  a  simple 
explanation  in  plain  English  of  the  Lord's  Supper,  he 
violently  repudiated  the  literal  interpretation  of 
Christ's  words — "  This  is  My  body."  Other  tracts 
and  books  followed  in  quick  succession  from  the 
busy  study  at  Lutterworth.  He  argued  after  the 
manner  of  the  mediaeval  Schoolmen  at  one  time,  and 
at  another  stated  his  convictions  in  clear,  direct, 
incisive  language  which  he  that  ran  could  read. 
Nothing  would  make  him  alter  his  convictions  nor 
lessen  his  attachment  to  the  Scriptures  in  their  plain 
an«l  natural  meaning. 

( The  famous  trial  then  came.  Courtenay  was 
installed  into  the  chair  of  St.  Augustine  at  Canter- 
bury on  6th  May  1382.  On  the  17th  of  the  same 
montli  the  Primate  summoned  a  council  of  prelates 
and  divines  at  the  Blackfriars'  monastery  in  London, 
the  memory  of  which  still  lingers  in  the  place-names 
of  the  district, — a  council  which  from  the  extra- 
ordinary event  which  broke  in  upon  its  deliberations 
t^ver  since  received  the  name  of  the  "  Earthquake 
Synod/1  KM.t  prelates,  fourteen  doctors,  si x  bachelors 
of  divinity,  fifteen  mendicant  friars,  and  four  monks 
w.i.;  gathered  in  the  great  hall  of  the  monastery,  and 

\\.  re  just  about  to  proceed  to  WyclihVs  trial,  when 


138     WYCLIFFE  AND  THE  LOLLARDS 

an  earthquake  shook  London,  to  the  terror  of  the 
assembled  divines,  who  began  to  take  it  as  an  omen 
of  the  divine  displeasure.  *  But  the  Primate,  who  was 
in  deadly  earnest  to  have  Wycliffe  condemned,  turned 
the  incident  to  another  account,  and,  improving  the 
occasion  said — "  Know  you  not  that  the  noxious 
vapours  which  catch  fire  in  the  bosom  of  the  earth 
and  give  rise  to  these  phenomena  which  alarm  you, 
lose  all  their  force  when  burst  forth  ?  In  like  manner, 
by  rejecting  the  wicked  from  our  community  we 
shall  put  an  end  to  the  convulsions  of  the  Church." 

Accepting  gratefully  the  archhishop's  interpretation 
of  the  earthquake  incident,  the  members  of  the  court 
proceeded  to  the  trial,  though  Wycliffe  naturally 
regarded  the  earth  tremors  as  portents  of  God's 
anger  at  the  prevailing  errors,  and  it  was  he  who 
ever  afterwards  spoke  of  the  assembly  as  the 
"  Earthquake  Council." 

(  A  court  officer  read  out  the  twenty -four  heretical 
propositions  from  Wycliffe's  writings,  and  after 
deliberations  extending  over  three  days  the  council 
condemned  ten  of  them  as  heretical  and  the  rest  as 
erroneous.  The  first  three  propositions  related  to 
the  Lords  Supper  and  the  denial  of  the  Real 
Presence, — Wycliffe  doctrines  which  had  already 
been  banned.  The  conclusions  of  the  council  were 
publicly  declared  with  great  show  of  ceremony.  A 
procession  of  clergy  and  laity  marched  from  Black- 
friars  up  Ludgate  Hill  to  St.  Paul's  Cathedral,  where 
John  Cunningham,  a  Carmelite  monk,  preached  a 
sermon  against  the  Lollard  doctrines,  and  concluded  by 
reading  the  twenty-four  condemned  articles  of  belief, 
and   called    for    instant    judgment    and    punishment 


WYCLIFFE'S  BIBLE  AND  TRACTS      139 

upon    all   who    preached,   taught,   or    believed    these 
heresies. ; 

The  council's  sentence  was  served  upon  the  Bishop 
of  London,  a  diocese  almost  as  much  infected  with 
the  new  views  as  Oxford  itself,  to  all  the  bishops, 
and  more  "  particularly  to  the  Bishop  of  Lincoln,  in 
whose  diocese  Lutterworth  was  situated.  Another 
copy  was  sent  to  Oxford,  and  Crown  and  Parliament 
were  called  upon  to  take  action. 

'  Archbishop  Courtenay's  commissioner  at  Oxford 
delivered  the  message  to  the  University,  which  at 
heart  was  always  favourable  to  its  distinguished  son, 
with  the  result  that  nothing  was  done.  Richard  11., 
the  youthful  King,'  was  told  by  Courtenay — "  If  we 
permit  this  heretic  to  appeal  continually  to  the 
passions  of  the  people,  our  destruction  is  inevitable: 
we  must  silence  these  Lollards."  ''Anxious  to  pro- 
pitiate the  Church,  mainly  for  financial  ends,  the 
King  gave  orders  "  to  confine  in  the  prisons  of  the 
State  any  who  should  maintain  the  condemned 
propositions."  '  The  House  of  Lords  approved  of  this 
action,  not  so  the  House  of  Commons;  and  yet  in 
spite  of  the  motion  having  never  received  the 
authority  of  the  Commons,  through  Courtenay's  great 
influence  and  subtle  diplomacy  the  condemnatory 
ordinance  was  placed  upon  the  Statute  Book  on  26th 
v  1382. 
(  Courtenay  attained  his  end,  and  now  prepared  to 
crash  Wycliffe  and  his  followers.  Lancaster  faltered 
and  failed,  and  many  who  had  supported  the  Reformer 
in  his  crusade  against  the  friars  and  the  corruptions 
of  the  Church  shrank  from  committing  themselves  so 
far  as  to  deny  the  Real  Presence.     On  19th  November 


140     VVYCLIFFE  AND  THE  LOLLARDS 

1382,  Parliament  reassembled,  and  Wycliffe,  who  knew 
his  life  was  in  hourly  danger,  appealed  to  it  and 
to   the   King.     He   reiterated   four  grievances  which 

V  called  loudly  for  reform, — the  monastic  orders,  which 
ought  to  be  abolished, — the  lawfulness  and  righteous- 
ness of  secular  lords  taking  away  Church  property 
which  was  abused, — the  withdrawing  of  revenues 
from  evil-living  clerics, — and  the  teaching  of  the 
scriptural  doctrine  of  the  Eucharist  as  against  Tran- 
substantiation,  in  the  churches  of  the  land. 

The  Commons  looked  favourably  on  the  appeal,  and 
asked  the  King  to  disannul  the  persecuting  mandate 

i  which  Courtenay  had  obtained,  and  further  declared 
with  great  boldness  that  the  papal  prelates  would  no 
more  override  and  overrule  their  wishes  than  in  the 

,  days  of  King  John.  With  great  wisdom  the  King 
withdrew  the  mandate  and  repealed  it. 

In  angry  despair  the  Primate  turned  to  Oxford, 
where  both  Parliament  and  Convocation  were 
assembled,  and  with  great  astuteness  mixed  up  the 
Crown's  clamant  want  of  money  and  Wycliffe's 
heresies.  "  Our  business,"  he  said,  addressing  Con- 
vocation, "is  to  grant  a  subsidy  to  the  Crown  and 
to  remedy  certain  disorders  which  have  too  long 
disgraced  the  University,  and  are  rapidly  extending 
to  the  whole  community  of  whose  spiritual  safety  we 
are  the  properly  constituted  guardians."  The  meeting 
of  Convocation  to  which  Wycliffe  was  summoned  was 
attended  by  all  the  dignitaries  and  students  and 
public  of  the  city  by  the  Isis,  besides  six  prelates  and 
a  host  of  titled  divines. 

(  Oxford  had  always  been  loyal  to  the  earnest  scholar 
who  forty  years  before  had  begun  his  studies  in  its 


WYCLIFFE'S  BIBLE  AND  TRACTS      141 

halls,  and  now  he  was  arraigned  and  put  on  trial  for 
heresy  before  his  very  friends  and  patrons.  Lancaster, 
afraid  of  further  mischief,  advised  him  to  submit; 
but  Wycliffe  turned  to  Courtenay,  and  after  boldly 
reproaching  him  for  allowing  priests  to  sell  their 
Masses  and  thus  disseminate  error,  added — "The 
Truth  shall  prevail ! "  He  passed  out  from  the  great 
gathering,  none  daring  to  touch  him,  and  leaving 
Oxford  hastened  to  peaceful  Lutterworth  once  more ; 
and  till  his  death  he  never  suffered  any  more  trouble 
nor  was  brought  to  any  fresh  trial. ' 

As  on  previous  occasions,  however,  when  the 
dangerous  man  haoWlisappeared  the  judges  had  their 
harmless  revenge  and  bootless  wrath  and  clamour. 
(  Wycliffe  and  his  adherents,  notably  Nicholas  Here- 
ford who  assisted  him  in  the  translation  of  the  Bible, 
were  deprived  of  all  university  functions  and  expelled 
from  university  and  city.  The  very  persecution 
seemed  to  spread  the  Wycliffe  movement/ so  much 
so  that  a  Roman  Catholic  writer  declared  in  the 
oft-quoted  sentence — "  A  man  could  not  meet  two 
people  on  the  road,  but  one  of  them  was  a  disciple  of 
Wycliffe."  The  persecution  which  ensued  drove  some 
back  to  their  former  views ;( but  Wycliffe  resumed  his 
studies  on  the  shore  of  the  Swift,  and  prepared  for 
the  completion  of  the  greatest  work  of  his  life/  upon 
which  he  had  already  spent  many  years  of  toil  and 
his  whole  heart 's-blood — the  translation  of  the  whole 
Bible  into  English.  * 

Wycliffe  was  the  author  not  only  of  a  Sum  of 
Theology  ^Three  Treatises  against  the  Friars,  The  Wicket 
(a  tract  on  the  Lord's  Supper),  The  Poor  Caitiff  (a  book 
on  practical  personal  piety),  but  also  of  many  contro- 


142     WYCLIFFE  AND  THE  LOLLARDS 

versial  treatises  on  the  more  objectionable  documents 
of  the  Church  of  Rome,  in  which  she  had  departed 
from  the  universal  teachings  and  beliefs  of  the  Catholic 
Church  of  God.  When  all  these  have  been  forgotten, 
however,-  as  in  time  they  will  ftnd  musk  be, — when  the 
Reformer's  influence  and  doings  shall  have  dropped 
behind  the  horizon  of  time  into  the  deep  ocean  of 
oblivion, — the  one  great  masterpiece  of  his  life  will 
remain  and  perpetuate  his  memory  as  long  as  time 
shall  last.  That  work  is  his  translation  of  the  Bible 
into  English, — the  first  translation  of  the  Scripture 
into  the  people's  tongue  that  had  ever  been  made  in 
this  land. 

The  only  Bibles  in  existence  were  the  hand- written 
scrolls  of  the  Latin  Vulgate,  a  copy  of  which  was  a 
fortune  in  itself,  a  large  flock  of  sheep  being  oftentimes 
given  in  exchange  for  a  single  page :  to  transcribe 
copies  of  the  Vulgate  was  considered  a  work  of  the 
greatest  merit,  and  sure  to  secure  an  entrance  into 
glory.  Of  course,  these  Latin  Bibles  were  quite  out 
of  the  reach  of  the  people,  and  were  to  be  found  only 
in  the  possession  of  the  parish  priest,  who  alone  could 
understand  the  language.  There  were,  it  is  true,  small 
portions  of  the  New  Testament  in  English:  even  so 
early  as  the  sixth  century  the  Venerable  Bede  rendered 
the  Gospel  of  St.  John  into  Anglo-Saxon ;  but  WyclifFe 
was  the  first  to  give  the  English  people  the  complete 
copy  of  Holy  Scripture  in  the  native  tongue,  and  to 
let  the  common  people  read  with  their  own  eyes  the 
priceless  words  of  everlasting  life. 
f  The  New  Testament  was  the  work  of  Wycliffe  alone  : 
the  Old  Testament  was  translated  by  his  friend 
Nicholas  Hereford  and  his  Lutterworth  curate,  John 


WYCLIFFE'S  BIBLE  AND  TRACTS      143 

Purvey.  The  translation  is  not  from  the  original 
Hebrew  and  Greek,  but  only  from  the  Latin  Vulgate, 
and  is  thus  only  a  translation  of  a  translation.  It  is, 
however,  fairly  accurate;  and  not  only  did  it  give 
ordinary  people  the  Bible  into  their  own  hands,  but 
it  fixed  the  English  language,  and  gave  it  a  firmness 
and  consistency  which  it  had  never  possessed  before. ) 
That  Bible  became  the  standard  of  pure  and  correct 
English  writing  and  speaking,  and  was  thus  not  only 
a  potent  religious  teacher,  but  a  splendid  popular 
educator. 

c  To  multiply  copies,  Wyclifte  got  his  Oxford  students 
and  friends  to  co-operate  with  him,  and  thus  in  time 
they  were  scattered  through  the  whole  land,— to  so 
great  an  extent,  indeed,  that ( in  1850,  when  a  census 
was  taken  of  the  number  of  written  copies  in  existence, 
no  less  than  a  hundred  and  fifty  MSS.  were  found  to 
have  survived  the  wreck  of  centuries. 

Afc-ihia-  time  of  day  we  can  hardly  estimate  tke 
difficulties  of  such  an  undertaking  as  this :  there  was 
the  heavy  opposition  of  the  Church  to  the  popularising 
and  vulgarising  of  the  priests'  sacred  book  :  there  was 
the  entire  absence  of  printer's  press  and  printer's  ink, 
and  the  like, — only  the  human  hand  and  the  slowly 
moving  pen:  these  and  a  hundred  other  difficulties 
the  brave  spirit  of  John  Wycliffe  faced  and  overcame ; 
and  thus  he  was  the  forerunner  of  all  the  later  trans- 
lators— the  great  progenitor  of  the  English  Bible  of 
to-day,  the  great  treasure  of  the  British  people. 


CHAPTER   X 

Wycliffe's  Death 

But  the  sword  was  too  sharp  for  the  scabbard;  the 
spirit  was  too  active  for  the  frail  tabernacle  :  Wycliffe 
had  worked,  now  Wycliffe  must  rest. {  On  28th  December 
1384 — five  hundred  and  twenty-three  years  ago,  while 
conducting  service  in  his  own  beautiful  church  at  Lutter- 
worth, he  was  struck  down  with  paralysis  and  never 
spoke  again,  passing  peacefully  away  to  the  other  world 
on  New  Year's  eve,  just  as  the  old  year  was  a-dying. 
Eeverently  his  parishioners  laid  his  wearied  bones 
to  rest  in  the  quiet  churchyard  ;  but  thirty  years  later, 
by  command  of  the  Council  of  Constance,  they  were 
exhumed,  burned  to  ashes,  and  the  dust  tossed  into 
the  river  Swift, — a  quickly  running  stream  which 
surges  past  the  old  parish  church ;  and  thus,  as  "  old 
Fuller "  says,  "  This  brook  did  convey  his  ashes  into 
the  Avon,  Avon  into  Severn,  Severn  into  the 
narrow  sea,  and  this  into  the  wide  ocean.  And  so 
the  ashes  of  Wycliffe  are  the  emblem  of  his  doctrine, 
which  is  now  dispersed  all  the  world  over." 

The  bones  of  Columbus  have  been  shifted  all  over 
the  New  World  and  the  Old.  And  poor  Mary's  ashes 
had  a  fate  like  her  own  life :  the  cruel  tragedy  of  her 
life  ended  by  the  fatal  stroke  at  Fotheringay,  her 
remains  were  first  interred  in  Peterborough  Cathedral, 

144 


WYCLIFFE'S  DEATH  145 

and  thence  brought  by  James  1.  with  great  solemnity 
to  Westminster  Abbey,  where  she  lies  to-day  with  a 
marble  effigy  above  her,  hands  folded  in  prayer,  and 
at  her  feet  the  Scottish  lion  crowned.  Truly  in  re- 
viewing such  a  life  of  mingled  sunshine  and  shadow, 
grey  and  gold,  one  is  constrained  to  cry  out  like  the 
great  French  preacher  over  the  bier  of  Louis  xiv., 
"  There  is  nothing  great  but  God  ! " 

The  fine  old  church  dedicated  to  St.  Mary  the  Virgin, 
where  Wycliffe  ministered  so  long,  is  still  used  as  the 
parish  church  to-day, — a  fine  Gothic  tower  having 
been  erected  in  place  of  the  ancient  spire,  which  had 
fallen  to  decay.  The  glorious  nave  and  chancel,  with 
their  rich,  rare  old  carvings  and  groinings,  the  dense 
masses  of  wood  and  forest,  the  bright  green  flowery 
meadows,  and  the  sparkling  happy  river  Swift  with  its 
pebbly  beach,  are  all  there  to-day  just  as  he  left 
them  five  hundred  years  ago.  In  the  vestry  there 
are  still  shown  his  old  chair,  a  bit  of  his  gown,  and  a 
considerable  portion  of  the  original  pulpit.  The  in- 
scription on  the  Memorial  Tablet  says :  "  He  found 
an  abundant  reward  in  the  blessings  of  his  countrymen 
of  every  rank  and  age,  to  whom  be  unfolded  the  words 
of  eternal  life." 

The  Rev.  F.  C.  ^Jitoson,  rector  of  Lutterworth 
and  canon  of  Peterborough,  kindly  writes  as  to  the 
present  memorials  to  Wycliffe  in  Lutterworth : 

"  The  Relics  in  the  Church  consist  of  a  portion  of 
Wiclif's  cope  that   I   think  is  probably  a  true  relic, 
unless  it  is  a  portion  of  the  Altar  cloth,  as  some  say. 
Then   there  are  his   candlesticks,  which  probably 

re  those  put  into  the  Church  by  the  order  of  Arch- 
bishop Laud,  but  they  are  called  '  Wiclif's  Candlesticks.' 
10 


146     WYCLIFFE  AND  THE  LOLLARDS 

"  Then  there  is  the  copy  of  his  portrait,  which  is  not 
probably  of  him. 

"Then  there  is  his  chair,  on  which  he  is  said  to 
have  died,  but  I  cannot  myself  certify  this. 

"  And,  lastly,  there  is  his  pulpit,  some  of  the  wood- 
work being  undoubtedly  of  his  time. 

"  But  I  think,  though  the  Church  has  been  restored, 
that  the  arcade  of  the  Nave  was  probably  built  about 
his  time,  and  there  are  two  Frescoes,  one  of  the 
Judgment  Day,  and  the  other  of  three  persons, 
probably  Richard  n.,  Anne  of  Bohemia,  and  John 
of  Gaunt,  that  I  assume  were  in  the  Church  in  Wiclif 's 
time.  Some  of  the  Church  is  older  than  Wiclif,  and 
some  part  of  it  is  later. 

"  There  are  two  modern  monuments,  one  inside  the 
Church — Wiclif  sending  out  his  preachers,  and  there 
is  a  large  obelisk  at  the  entry  of  the  town." 

Alas,  since  this  was  written  Canon  Alderson  has 
passed  to  his  rest ! 

Mr.  Edward  Caird,  until  recently  Master  of  Balliol, 
kindly  informs  me  that  the  only  "  trace "  of  import- 
ance of  Wycliffe's  presence  at  the  famous  college  for 
northmen  is  "  a  portrait  of  questionable  authenticity." 


CHAPTER   XI 

Wycliffe  and  the  English  Bible  * 

The  beauty  of  many  of  the  magnificently  illuminated 
Gospels  of  early  and  mediaeval  British  Christianity 
raises  the  envy  and  wonder  of  the  modern  artist  and 
scribe.  In  Durham  Cathedral  and  in  the  British 
Museum  wonderful  examples  of  the  labours  in  the 
scriptorium  of  the  Lindisfarne  fathers  are  to  be  seen. 
The  "  Durham  Manuscript "  in  the  British  Museum 
(Nero.  D.,  4),  intimately  described  by  Selden,  Mares- 
chall,  Smith,  Wanley,  and  Astle,  is  a  copy  of  the  four 
Gospels  written  by  Eadfrith  or  Egfrid,  bishop  of 
Lindisfarne.  The  Vulgate  is  there  beautifully  tran- 
scribed and  bound  in  gold  and  jewels.  A  note  at  the 
end  of  St.  Matthew  says  Egfrid  wrote  it,  and  Ethelwald 
hfe  successor  did  the  brilliant  and  wondrous  illumina- 
tions. iElfrid  put  it  in  a  cover  of  gold  and  silver  with 
rich  stones,  and  after  a  time  Aldred  added  an  interlinear 
Dano-Saxon  version  with  notes  on  the  margin.  That 
priceless  volume  was  the  treasure  of  the  island-college 
of  Lindisfarne  until  the  Danes  pillaged  the  place  as 
they  pillaged  the  sister  Iona,  and  the  fathers  fled, 
carrying  their  sacred  gospel-book  with  them, — a  volume 
riceless  and  wonderful  to  them  as  was  the  "  Crystal 
book"  of  Columba  to  the  Iona  missionaries.  During 
their  flight  the  book  fell  into  the  sea,  and  it  is  said  one 

1  See  note  on  p.  321. 
147 


148    IWYCLIFFE  AND  THE  LOLLARDS 

of  the  fathers  had  a  vision  of  it  thrown  up  unhurt  on 
the  rocky  coast.  After  due  search  it  was  found  where 
the  dream  indicated.  At  last  it  was  laid  in  Durham, 
where  it  remained  until  Lindisfarne  was  rebuilt  and 
safe,  and  was  then  carried  back  thither,  where  it  re- 
mained until  the  dissolution  of  the  house,  and  now  it  is 
preserved  in  the  British  Museum. 

That  interlinear  Dano- Saxon  translation  was  one 
of  the  earliest  versions  in  the  vulgar  tongue  of  the  four 
Gospels.  But  it  was  exclusively  for  the  priesthood,  like 
the  other  gorgeous  volumes  which  lay  in  the  treasuries 
and  on  the  altars  of  British  churches  in  that  age. 

There  can  be  little  doubt,  however,  that  the  people 
of  England  were  more  or  less  familiar  with  the  facts 
of  Scripture  through  homely  fragments  of  translation 
scattered  abroad  from  a  very  early  time.  The  Saxon 
Caedmon  who  sang  the  "  Creation,"  told  in  familiar 
phrase,  according  to  the  Venerable  Bede,  the  chief  inci- 
dents in  the  Old  and  New  Testaments.  The  birth  of  the 
world,  the  fall  of  man,  the  story  of  Israel,  the  life  of  the 
Lord,  the  descent  of  the  Spirit, and  the  lives  of  the  apostles 
were  all  included  in  his  "  Paraphrase,"  which  was  little 
else  than  a  homely  and  popular  versification  of  the 
Scripture  adapted  to  the  needs  of  the  people.  To  say 
that  popular  renderings  of  Scripture  incidents  were 
unknown  or  even  scarce  in  England  before  Wyclifte  is 
historically  and  absurdly  inaccurate.  In  the  far  North 
the  Ruthwell  Cross — still  preserved  after  many  vicissi- 
tudes in  the  parish  church  of  that  beautiful  Dumfries- 
shire district — has  carved  around  it  in  Runic  letters 
the  story  of  the  Cross,  and  the  central  spaces  are  filled 
up  with  pictorial  representations  of  the  various  Gospel 
incidents  in  the  life  of  the  Saviour. 


WYCLIFFE  AND  THE  ENGLISH  BIBLE    149 

The  deciphering  of  what  has  now  become  famous 
as  "The  Ruth  well  Cross"  is  a  marvellous  story,  and 
one  of  the  greatest  triumphs  of  scholarship  in  modern 
times.  The  stone  is  all  covered  with  sculptures  of 
Scripture  scenes,  most  of  them  from  the  life  of  our 
Lord ;  but  round  the  edge  of  the  arms  of  the  cross  are 
long  lines  of  inscription  in  Runic  letters,  and  the  in- 
terpretation of  these  has  been  at  last  arrived  at  in  the 
following  extraordinary  manner.  In  the  year  1823  a 
German  scholar  was  making  a  literary  pilgrimage 
through  Northern  Italy,  and  in  the  old  conventual 
library  of  Vercelli  he  by  accident  came  upon  an  ancient 
yellow  parchment,  on  which,  among  other  things,  was 
written,  in  the  Anglo-Saxon  language,  a  short  poem 
entitled  "The  Dream  of  the  Holy  Rood."  He  felt 
deeply  interested  in  discovering  this  scrap  of  old 
English  sacred  minstrelsy  in  a  land  so  far  away  and 
in  so  unlikely  a  quarter ;  and,  after  rendering  it  care- 
fully into  modern  English,  he  saw  to  his  infinite 
surprise  that  it  was  almost  identical  with  the  hypo- 
thetical translation  of  the  Runic  letters  on  the  old 
stone  in  the  Dumfriesshire  church.  After  a  great  deal 
of  elaborate  research,  it  has  been  finally  settled  that 
the  Runic  writing  on  the  Ruth  well  Cross  is  a  copy  of 
an  ancient  English  poem,  composed  probably  by 
Caedmon,  and  was  carved  about  the  year  A.D.  655. 
Indeed,  on  the  top  of  the  cross  the  words  are  written — 
"Caedmon  made  me."  It  was  therefore  about  the 
close  of  the  seventh  century  of  our  Christian  era  that 
religious  poem — which  seems  to  have  been  quite 
current  and  popular  in  England  and  the  south  of 
Scotland — was  put  into  a  more  durable  form  on  this 
stone  cross.     It  is  the  "  Story  of  the  Cross  "  as  told  by 


150     WYCLIFFE  AND  THE  LOLLARDS 

a  British  Christian  of  the  seventh  century,  in  simple 
language  and  with  genuine  feeling. 

Here  is  the  Ruthwell  inscription  put  into  modern 
English.  The  idea  is  that  a  Christian  falls  asleep,  and 
sees  the  Cross,  in  a  vision,  surrounded  by  angels ;  and 
the  Cross  breaks  forth  into  a  soliloquy,  and  tells  the 
story  of  what  happened  to  it  and  to  its  Divine  Bearer 
on  the  ever-memorable  Crucifixion  Day — the  darkest 
day  in  history : 

"'Twas  many  a  year  ago, 
I  yet  remember  it, 
That  I  was  hewn  down 
At  the  wood's  end. 

Then  men  bare  me  upon  their  shoulders 
Until  they  set  me  down  upon  a  hill. 
Then  saw  I  tremble 
The  whole  extent  of  earth. 
He  mounted  me  ; 

I  trembled  when  He  embraced  me  ; 
Yet  dared  I  not  to  bow  earthwards. 
I  raised  the  powerful  King 
The  Lord  of  the  Heavens. 
They  pierced  me  with  dark  nails. 
They  reviled  us  both  together. 
I  was  all  stained  with  Blood, 
Poured  from  His  Side. 
The  shadow  went  forth 
Pale  under  the  welkin. 
All  creation  wept, 
They  mourned  the  fall  of  their  King." 

This  is  the  "  testimony  of  the  rocks  "  to  the  Faith  of 
Christ — a  sermon  in  stone,  preached  twelve  hundred 
years  ago ;  but  still  its  voice  is  heard  proclaiming  that 
faith  wherein  we  stand,  the  faith  of  the  Church  of  Britain 
of  to-day,  as  it  was  in  that  early  Christian  age.     It  is 


WYCLIFFE  AND  THE  ENGLISH  BIBLE    151 

the  same  old  gospel  to-day  as  it  was  yesterday,  and  as 
it  will  be  for  ever.     "  Jesus  Christ  is  always  Himself." 

The  Venerable  Bede  gave  England  a  translation  of 
the  Lord's  Prayer  and  of  St.  John's  Gospel,  and  the 
story  of  its  completion  is  one  of  the  classics  of  ecclesi- 
astical history.  Asser,  King  Alfred's  biographer,  de- 
clares that  the  most  necessary  parts  of  Scripture  were 
accessible  to  Englishmen,  while  it  was  the  good  King's 
desire  to  make  the  scheme  of  popularising  the  Scripture 
perfectly  complete,  but  was  unable  to  do  much. 

There  was  no  more  diligent  student  of  the  Bible  than 
Alfred,  who  kept  a  "  handboc  "  in  which  he  wrote  down 
extracts  from  Scripture,  especially  the  Psalms,  of  some  of 
which  he  made  original  translations.  He  used  earnestty 
to  persuade  all  his  subjects  to  read  the  Scriptures ;  and 
as  Edward  VI.  rebuked  that  courtier  who  stood  on  the 
holy  book  to  reach  down  something  from  a  height,  and 
kissed  the  volume  by  way  of  reparation,  so  Alfred 
enshrined  the  gospel  in  the  heart  of  his  people,  and,  like 
Victoria  the  Good,  whom  both  these  kings  so  greatly 
resembled,  pointed  to  the  sacred  volume  (whether  the 
incident  be  true  or  not  matters  little,  for  the  spirit 
was  there)  as  "  the  secret  of  England's  greatness." 

The  book  of  Psalms  and  the  four  Gospels  were 
translated  into  vulgar  Saxon  at  a  very  early  stage,  the 
edition  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  and  Early  English  Psalter 
reprinted  in  1844  by  the  Surtees  Society  from  MSS.  in 
the  British  Museum  being  conclusive  proof  that  popular 
versions  of  Scripture  were  quite  common  in  the  Saxon 
Church.  Mr.  Forshall,  in  his  preface  to  the  Wycliffe 
translation  of  the  Bible  (4  vols.,  Oxford,  1850),  declares 
in  his  preface  that  "the  writings  which  are  still  extant 
show  that  the  Anglo-Saxon  Church  must  have  had  in 


152     WYCLIFFE  AND  THE  LOLLARDS 

its  own  tongue  a  considerable   amount  of  scriptural 
instruction." 

The  Lord's  Prayer  seems  to  have  been  of  the  special 
pieces  of  sacred  writ  used  in  the  vulgar  tongue  by  the 
English  people.  Bishop  ^Elfric  in  A.D.  700  gives  it  in 
Anglo-Saxon  roughly  thus :  "  Uren  Fader  thic  arth 
in  heofnas,  sic  gehalgud  thin  noma,  so  cymeth  thin  ric. 
Sic  thin  willa  sue  is  heofnas  and  in  eortho."  In  A.D. 
900  the  same  prayer  that  teaches  to  pray  appears  thus : 
"  Thu  ure  Fader  the  eart  on  heofnum,  si  thin  nama 
gehalgod :  cume  thin  rice,  si  thin  willa  on  eorthen  sue 
sue  on  heofenum."  In  A.D.  1160  a  metrical  version  of 
the  Paternoster  composed  by  Pope  Adrian — the  only 
Englishman  who  ever  filled  the  papal  chair — was  sent 
broadcast  over  England : 

"  Ure  Fader  in  heaven  rich 
Thy  Name  be  hayled  ever  lich. 
Thou  bring  us  thy  mickell  blisse 
Ais  hit  in  heaven  y-doe 
Evar  in  yearth  beene  it  also." 

About  Wycliffe's  age  the  ordinary  version  ran  thus : 

"  O  oure  Father  which  arte  in  heven 
Halowed  be  Thy  name. 

Let  Thy  kingdom  come,  Thy  will  be  fulfilled 
As  well  in  erthe  as  it  is  in  heven. 
Give  us  this  daye  ure  daylybred." 

Besides  Bede's  "St.  John,"  the  four  Evangelists 
translated  by  the  learned  men  of  Alfred's  court,  and 
some  books  of  the  Old  Testament  translated  by  ^Elfric 
in  King  Ethelred's  reign,  in  a.  later  age  a  Norman 
priest  paraphrased  the  Gospels  and  Acts,  while  Richard 
Rolle,  '■  the  hermit  of  Hampole,"  who  sang  so  sweetly  of 


WYCLIFFE  AND  THE  ENGLISH  BIBLE    153 

the  Celestial  Country  after  the  manner  of  St.  Bernard, 
aided  by  a  few  learned  priests  of  his  neighbourhood, 
produced  a  version  of  the  Psalms,  Gospels,  and  Epistles. 
The  Psalter  was  the  only  Scripture  book  which  was 
translated  into  all  the  three  languages  of  England — 
Anglo-Saxon,  Anglo-Norman,  and  Old  English. 

During  the  period  of  English  Church  history  sub- 
sequent to  the  Norman  Conquest,  Scripture  translations 
were  frequent.  In  the  thirteenth  century  the  entire 
Psalter  was  translated  into  French  and  English  for  the 
benefit  of  the  mixed  populations  of  England  at  the 
time, — a  rendering  at  once  simple,  strenuous,  and  fairly 
accurate  and  literal.  During  the  reigns  of  the  first 
three  Edwards  many  popular  translations  of  Scripture 
portions  appeared  and  had  wide  circulation,  chiefly 
poetical  paraph  rases  of  incidents,  events,  and  teachings  in 
the  two  Testaments.  Archbishop  Usher  in  his  treatise, 
Be  scripturis  et  sacris  vernacidis  (London,  1690),  even 
goes  the  length  of  declaring  that  long  before  Wycliffe, 
England  was  in  possession  of  the  entire  Bible  in  the 
vernacular, — an  assertion  which  Dr.  James,  the  famous 
author  of  the  Apology  for  John  Wickcliffe  (Oxford, 
1608),  the  keeper  of  the  Bodleian  and  Cottonian 
Libraries,  and  a  devoted  admirer  of  the  Reformer, 
upholds  and  defends.  This  important  assertion,  how- 
ever, cannot  in  the  face  of  recent  researches  and  exami- 
nations be  upheld  and  defended,  and  the  editors  of 
Wycliffe's  Bible  refuse  to  accept  it  as  in  any  sense 
accurate. 

1378-1384, — long  prior  to  the  invention  of  printing,  ^ 
may  be  taken  as  the  date  of  the  publication  of  Wycliffe's    ' 
completed   Bible.      Transcripts   were    necessarily   - 
treinely   costly,  and  in  Wycliffe's  own  day  the  value 


154     WYCLIFFE  AND  THE  LOLLARDS 

of  one  of  his  New  Testaments  was  about  £45  of  our 
money.  A  most  beautiful  copy  of  the  entire  Bible  was 
in  the  possession  of  His  Royal  Highness  the  late  Duke 
of  Sussex,  and  it  is  calculated  by  the  Wycliffe  Society, 
which  has  done  so  much  to  preserve  copies  not  only 
of  the  entire  work,  and  of  smaller  detached  Gospels, 
Epistles,  etc.,  but  also  of  the  Reformer's  tracts  and  works 
generally,  that  altogether  there  are  still  extant  some 
one  hundred  and  fifty  hand-written  copies  of  Wycliffe's 
immortal  work. 

Wycliffe's  English  Bible  is  practically  a  translation 
of  the  existing  Latin  Vulgate  copies.  Hebrew  was 
wholly  unknown  to,  and  even  despised  by,  Christendom 
as  the  language  of  those  who  had  crucified  the  Lord, 
forgetful  of  the  fact  that  it  was  practically  the  language 
which  flowed  from  the  lips  of  Him  who  spake  as  never 
man  spake.  The  Vulgate  used  by  the  father  of  the 
English  Bible  for  his  great  work  calls  for  a  brief 
reference. 

Prior  to  St.  Jerome's  great  translation  of  the  whole 
Bible,  there  were  current  many  Latin  versions  of  the 
Old  Testament  as  well  as  of  the  New.  One  of  the 
Fathers  says,  "  Among  the  Latins  there  are  as  many 
different  Bibles  as  copies  of  the  Bible,  for  every  man 
has  added  or  subtracted,  according  to  his  own  caprice, 
as  he  saw  fit." 

Jerome,  seeing  this,  made  a  translation  of  the  Old 
Testament  directly  from  the  Hebrew  somewhere 
between  a.d.  390  and  400.  Now,  we  are  not  aware 
whether  St.  Jerome  was  quite  competent  for  this  great 
work.  He  is  said  to  have  been  a  good  Hebrew  scholar, 
but  we  do  not  know  that  he  was.  But  even  granting 
that  he  could  render  Hebrew  idioms  and  figures  into 


WYCLIFFE  AND  THE  ENGLISH  BIBLE    155 

corresponding  Latin  forms  of  expression  with  a  very 
considerable  amount  of  discretion,  his  task  was  not 
then  over. 

Even  so  early  as  then,  Hebrew  manuscripts  were  in 
a  state  of  the  very  utmost  corruption,  as  is  testified  by 
many  of  the  Fathers,  among  whom  may  be  mentioned 
Justin  Martyr,  Tertullian,  Clemens  Romanus,  Origen, 
Eusebius,  and  Epiphanius.  St.  Jerome  had,  therefore, 
to  use  a  certain  amount  of  critical  judgment,  which  he 
may  or  may  not  have  possessed,  if  his  work  was  to  be 
really  valuable.  Now,  we  know  that  the  Fathers, 
though  pious  and  in  many  cases  learned,  were,  except- 
ing Jerome  and  Origen,  no  critics.  The  science  of 
criticism  was  then  almost  unknown,  and  certainly 
unformed.  St.  Jerome's  translation  was  therefore,  in 
all  probability,  not  wanting  in  bad  readings,  got  from 
inferior  manuscripts,  or  perhaps  even  from  the 
Septuagint,  which  he  may  have  consulted.  For  this 
great  undertaking  he  was  much  censured  by  his  con- 
tempories,  who  contended  that  he  had  disturbed  the  all 
but  universal  reverence  for  the  Septuagint. 

In  605  this  translation  was  adopted  by  Pope 
Gregory,  but  with  it  he  incorporated  the  Old  Italic 
Version.  But  still  these  steps  did  not  ensure  uniform- 
ity of  reading  throughout  the  Catholic  world.  In  the 
ninth  century  Alcuin,  and  in  the  eleventh  Lanfranc, 
made  numerous  emendations.  In  the  Middle  Ages  the 
Latin  text  was  in  a  state  of  the  greatest  corruption — 
so  much  so,  that  we  find  Roger  Bacon  remarking  that 
in  his  day  "  every  reader  altered  to  suit  his  own  whim." 
In  this  state  the  Latin  Version  continued,  till  Stephens 
revised  it,  and  made  a  new  text.  About  the  same  time 
Clariu8  submitted  to  the  Tridentine  Council  a  schedule 


156     WYCLIFFE  AND  THE  LOLLARDS 

of  eighty  thousand  mistakes,  which  had  crept  in  in  the 
course  of  ages.  Pope  Sixtus  v.  undertook  to  be  proof- 
reader, and  accordingly,  in  1589,  a  new  version  of  the 
Vulgate  issued  from  his  Vatican,  in  which  "  eaque  res 
quo  magis  incorrupti  perficeretur,  nostra  nos  ipsi  manu 
correximus." 

In  1591,  in  the  pontificate  of  Clement  vil,  a  standard 
copy  was  issued,  and  pronounced  "  perfect."  This  text 
has  ever  since  been  held  to  be  the  standard  Latin 
Vulgate.  But  we  are  not  told  according  to  what  prin- 
ciples his  Sixtine  version  was  arrived  at.  The  prob- 
ability is  that  a  compromise  was  made  amongst  all  the 
current  versions,  and  thus  general  satisfaction  was  given. 

The  common  Vulgate  of  the  Church  in  England,  used 
by  the  priests,  together  with  the  fragments  of  English 
Scripture  portions  and  hymns,  was  the  groundwork  of 
Wycliffe's  Bible.  Even  had  he  been  a  Hebrew  scholar 
and  had  Hebrew  been  known  in  England  in  the  four- 
teenth  century,  manuscripts  were  not  to  the  hand.  Even 
when  the  forty-seven  translators  of  King  James  vi.'s 
Bible  translated  their  work,  it  was  almost  impossible  to 
get  a  reliable  Hebrew  MS.,  and  as  a  matter  of  fact  the 
present  "  Authorised  Version  "  dedicated  to  "  the  most 
High  and  Mighty  Prince  James  "  is  little  else  than  the 
older  English  Bibles  revised  and  compared  with  the 
Vulgate  and  Septuagint. 

Accordingly  Wycliffe's  Bible  steps  into  a  position  of 
even  greater  importance  than  at  first  sight  appears,  for  it 
was  the  parent  of  our  present  Authorised  Version  of  all 
the  various  English  Bibles  which  intervene  between  the 
two  with  the  exception  of  the  Roman  Catholic  English 
Bible  of  Rheims,  which  was  a  fresh  translation  from 
Greek  and  Latin. 


WYCLIFFE  AND  THE  ENGLISH  BIBLE    157 

A  brief  survey  of  the  succession  of  the  English  Bible 
in  its  various  forms  from  WyclinVs  parent  masterpiece 
reveals  some  interesting  movements  and  features: 
WyclinVs  Bible  was  only  a  translation  of  translations, 
and  the  English  Bibles  which  succeeded — Tyndale's 
(1530),  Coverdale's  (1535),  Cranmer's  "Great  Bible" 
(1540),  the  Genevan  Version  (1557),  the  Bishops' 
Bible  (1568),  the  Rhemish  New  Testament  (1582), 
and  the  Authorised  Version  (1607) — were  all  more 
or  less  translations  from  the  Vulgate  also,  though  the 
Rhemish  Translation  of  the  New  Testament  professed 
to  include  also  a  "  diligent  comparison  with  the  Greek 
and  other  editions  in  divers  languages."  "  We  have 
presumed,"  say  the  fathers  of  the  Roman  College  of 
Rheims,  "  not  in  hard  places  to  mollify  the  speech  or 
phrases,  but  religiously  keep  them  word  for  word  and 
point  for  point,  for  fear  of  missing  or  restraining  the 
sense  of  the  Holy  Ghost  to  our  phantasy."  WyclinVs 
was  the  first  complete  translation  of  the  whole  Bible 
into  English,  and  all  or  almost  all  the  subsequent 
versions  were  indebted  to  it  and  were  guided  by  it. 

Taking  a  broad  survey  of  the  whole  subject  of  the 
succession  of  our  English  Bibles,  WyclinVs  stands  out 
as  the  mother  of  them  all ;  and  while  itself  only  a 
homely  translation  of  existing  Vulgate  versions,  vary- 
ing, defective,  and  even  contradictory,  forms  the  basis 
and  foundation  of  that  great  book  which  has  done 
more  than  any  other  to  form,  settle,  and  guide  the 
iisli  language  and  character. 

It   is   noticeable    in    the   ecclesiastical   histories   of 

England  and  Scotland  of  this  period,  that  all  who  were 

mined  for  heresy  appealed  directly  to  the  Scriptures, 

ring  the  infli  bioh  they  began  to  exert  over 


158     WYCLIFFE  AND  THE  LOLLARDS 

the  minds  of  men  generally.  A  second  edition  of 
Wycliffe's  Bible  was  issued  in  1390,  ten  years  after  the 
first,  revised  by  a  man  named  Purvey,  so  that  men 
here  and  there  were  by'that  time  laying  hands  on  the 
charter  of  their  liberties.  It  only  remains  to  be  re- 
stated that  this  of  Wycliffe  was  the  first  complete 
written  Bible  in  English ;  and  it  is  a  curious  fact  that 
the  whole  work  was  never  printed  till  about  sixty 
years  ago  (1845). 

Still  more  striking,  however,  than  even  the  fact  that 
our  English  Bible  had  its  birth  at  Lutterworth,  is  the 
stupendous  thought  that  through  this,  the  Bible  has  been 
given  to  the  world,  for  the  three  hundred  translations  or 
so  of  the  Bible  into  all  the  languages  of  the  earth  have 
nearly  all  been  made  from  the  English  Bible.  Neither 
the  Roman  nor  the  Greek  branches  of  the  Church  have 
ever  given  any  people  the  Scripture  in  the  vulgar 
tongue  of  that  people  or  tribe.  The  spreading  abroad 
of  Bible  translations  into  Turkish,  Arabic,  Chinese, 
Hindustani,  and  all  the  chief  tongues  of  man,  not  to 
speak  of  the  scores  of  minor  languages  on  Indian  hills, 
beside  Equatorial  African  lakes,  in  Australasian  islands, 
and  amid  Esquimaux  snows,  has  been  the  almost 
exclusive  work,  triumph,  glory,  and  crown  of  the  great 
Bible  Societies  of  Britain.  And  thus  Wycliffe's  Bible 
becomes  the  parent-Bible  of  all  the  Bibles  of  the  world, 
and  his  voice  has  gone  through  all  the  earth,  and  his 
words  unto  the  end  of  the  world.  Fuller's  account  of 
his  ashes  being  carried  to  every  shore  is  not  an  image 
but  a  fact,  for  the  millions  of  every  clime  and  colour 
who  to-day,  in  earth's  multitudinous  tongues,  read  man's 
best  guide-book  to  heaven,  and  catch  the  gleam,  through 
its  printed  letters,  of  another  and  a  brighter  land,  owe 


WYCLIFFE  AND  THE  ENGLISH   BIBLE    159 

their  book  to  the  rector  of  Lutterworth,  who  first  took 
the  clasps  off  the  holy  volume  aud  opened  it  freely  to 
the  world.  If  Chaucer  is  the  "Father  of  English 
Poetry,"  Wycliffe  is  undoubtedly  the  "  Father  "  not  only 
of  the  English  Bible,  but  through  it  of  the  Bibles  of  the 
world. 

We  cannot  determine  when  Wyclitfe's  translation  of 
the  Bible  was  really  begun,  and  in  his  many  writings 
he  very  curiously  makes  hardly  any  allusion  to  the 
great  work  and  masterpiece  of  his  life ;  but  the  colossal 
task  was  completed  during  the  last  few  years  of  his 
life  in  the  calm  peace  of  his  Lutterworth  study.  The 
New  Testament  translation  which  appeared  first  was 
Wycliffe's  own  personal  work,  while  Dr.  Nicholas 
Hereford  of  Oxford,  his  trusty  friend  and  helper,  was 
probably  responsible  for  the  greater  part  of  the  Old 
Testament,  while  another  loyal  adherent,  John  Purvey, 
Wycliffe's  curate  at  Lutterworth,  helped  in  both, 
revising  and  re-editing  the  whole. 

The  great  work  of  translation  having  been  finished, 
the  next  problem  was  how  to  get  reproductions  of  the 
volume  so  as  to  scatter  Scripture  truth  abroad  over  the 
land  ;  for  in  his  treatise  on  The  Truth  and  Meaning  of 
Scripture,  Wycliffe  rests  his  faith  absolutely  on  the 
pture  for  doctrine,  discipline,  and  daily  conduct. 
"A  Christian  man,"  he  says,  "well  understanding  it, 
may  gather  sufficient  knowledge  during  his  pilgrimage 
upon  earth :  all  truth  js  contained  in  Scripture,  and  we 
should  admit  of  no  conclusion  not  approved  there. 
There  is  no  court  beside  the  Court  of  Heaven ;  though 
there  were  an  hundred  Popes  and  all  the  friars  in  the 
world  was  turned  into  cardinals,  yet  should  we  learn 
more   from  the  gospel   than  we  should  from  all  that 


160     WYCLIFFE  AND  THE  LOLLARDS 

multitude :  true  sons  will  in  no  wise  go  about  to 
infringe  the  will  and  testament  of  their  heavenly- 
Father."  At  a  later  period  he  wrote :  "  As  the  Faith 
of  the  Church  is  contained  in  the  Scriptures,  the  more 
these  are  known  in  an  orthodox  sense  the  better." 

Wycliffe  had  done  his  great  work  with  great 
obstacles.  Apart  from  the  positive  and  strenuous 
opposition  of  the  Church,  his  health  was  broken  down 
with  work,  worry,  and  persecution,  and  above  all,  in 
addition,  lie  had  little  knowledge  either  of  Hebrew  or  of 
Greek,  and  had  to  rely  mainly  on  the  ordinary  Vulgate 
of  the  priesthood. 

The  work  was  finished  in  1382,  and  with  character- 
istic energy  Wycliffe  got  scores  of  willing  workers  to 
copy  the  Bible  out.  The  demand  was  so  great  that 
with  hundreds  of  expert  hands  busy  at  work,  the 
demand  could  not  be  met.  Some  of  the  wealthy  had 
copies  made  for  themselves,  while  those  who  were 
poorer  had  to  content  themselves  with  portions  of  the 
Bible, — a  Gospel  or  the  Psalms  or  an  Epistle.  The 
catalogue  of  the  Wycliffe  Bible  MSS.  in  the  British 
Museum  shows  how  this  is  historically  correct,  some  of 
the  entries  showing  a  whole  Bible,  others  a  New 
Testament,  others  a  portion  of  Old  or  New  Scripture. 
Through  the  kindness  of  the  librarian  the  following 
complete  list  of  all  Wycliffe's  Bible  MSS.  in  the 
Museum  library  is  given : 

WYCLIFFE  BIBLES 

(Hiis  list  does  not  include  all  lilunjical  fragments  and  psalters.) 
Later  Version.  Earlier  Version. 

Royal  1  A  iv.  %  *  Royal  1  B  vi.  N.T. 

„      1  A  x.    i  X.T.  „      1  B  ix.  St.  Join 

1  A  xii. 


WYCLIFFE  AND  THE  ENGLISH  BIBLE    161 


Later  Version.                                             Earlier  Version. 

Royal  1  C  viii. 

Eg.  617,    618  (Prov.-Macc. 

„      1  C  ix.  and  Harl.  5017.                  and  N.T.). 

Cotton.  Cland.  E. 

ii.                             Add.     15580     (Prov.-Macc. 

Harley 

272. 

N.T.                          and  N.T.). 

» 

327. 

Acts,  Epp.  etc. 

>> 

940. 

ii 

» 

984. 

St.  Matth. 

» 

1212. 

N.T. 

n 

1896. 

Psalter. 

ii 

2249. 

Joshua-Ps. 

ii 

2309. 

Gosp. 

ii 

3903. 

Job  and  Tobit. 

ii 

4027. 

N.T. 

» 

4890. 

N.T. 

ii 

5017. 

Mace,  and  N.T. 

ii 

5767. 

St.  Luke  and  St.  John. 

ii 

5768. 

Cath.  Epis.  and  Apocalypse. 

J> 

6333. 

Acts,  Epistles,  etc. 

Lansdowne    407. 

N.T. 

ii 

455. 

N.T.  Lessons,  etc. 

Arundel 

104. 

N.T. 

11 

254. 

Cath.  Epis.,  Lessons,  etc. 

Barney 

30. 

St.  John  and  Hebrews. 

Egerton 

1165. 

N.T. 

ii 

1171. 

N.T.,  Lessons,  etc. 

Add. 

5890-5902.     (18th  cent,  copy.) 

ii 

10046. 

(Psalms,  etc.) 

ii 

10047. 

ii 

ii 

10596. 

(Tobit,  Susanna,  etc.) 

ii 

11858. 

(N.T.)  same  hand  as  Harl.  2249. 

ii 

15517. 

(Gospels.) 

For  the  above  see  ForsJudl  and  Madden's  edition. 


28256.     (Apoc.) 
31044.     (Pbm  Prov.  etc.) 


1 62     WYCLIFFE  AND  THE  LOLLARDS 

From  the  register  of  Alnwick,  bishop  of  Norwich, 
it  appears  that  in  1429  a  Wycliffe  Testament  cost  four 
marks  and  forty  pence  or  £2,  16s.  8d.,  a  sum  equal  to 
more  than  twenty  pounds  of  our  money,  which  was  a 
fabulous  sum  to  pay  for  such  a  work,  considering  the 
fact  that  £5  a  year  was  considered  in  those  days  a 
sufficient  income  annually  for  a  cleric,  yeoman,  or 
tradesman. 

So  numerous  were  these  copies,  that  when  in  1850 
Sir  F.  Madden  and  Mr.  Forshall  edited  the  standard 
edition  of  Wycliffe's  Bible,  they  were  able  to  consult 
some  150  MSS.,  and  of  these  most  of  them  were 
written  by  scribes  within  forty  years  of  the  Reformer's 
death.  Handed  about  secretly  from  house  to  house, 
placed  in  churches  and  libraries  where  it  was  possible, 
the  leaven  thus  spread  till  all  England  wras  touched. 
"  To  Wycliffe,"  as  Prof.  Montague  Burrows  says,  "  we 
owe  more  than  to  any  one  person  who  can  be  mentioned, 
our  English  language,  our  English  Bible,  and  our 
Reformed  religion.  How  easily  the  words  slip  from 
the  tongue !  But  is  not  this  almost  the  very  atmo- 
sphere we  breathe  ? "  At  last  came  the  invention  of 
printing,  and  the  yellow,  well-worn  heirlooms  were  laid 
aside  for  the  cleaner  and  more  readable  and  infinitely 
more  numerous  Bibles  from  the  Press. 

Naturally  the  wonderful  popularity  of  the  trans- 
lation roused  renewed  ire  in  ecclesiastical  circles.  That 
uncompromising  opponent  of  the  Reformer,  Knighton, 
the  learned  canon  of  Leicester,  declared :  "  Christ 
delivered  His  gospel  to  the  clergy  and  doctors  of  the 
Church,  that  they  might  administer  to  the  laity  and  to 
weaker  persons,  according  to  the  state  of  the  times 
and  the  wants  of  men.     But  this  Master  John  Wycliffe 


VVYCLIFFE  AND  THE  ENGLISH  BIBLE    163 

translated  it  out  of  Latin  into  the  tongue  Anglican — 
not  Angelic!  Thus  it  became  of  itself  vulgar,  more 
open  to  the  laity  and  to  women  who  could  read  than 
it  usually  is  to  the  clergy,  even  the  most  learned  and 
intelligent.  In  this  way  the  gospel-pearl  is  cast 
abroad  and  trodden  underfoot  of  swine :  and  that 
which  was  before  precious  both  to  clergy  and  laity  is 
rendered,  as  it  were,  the  common  jest  of  both." 

Not  content  with  mere  grumbling,  however,  the 
Synod  of  1408  held  by  Archbishop  Arundel,  hence 
called  the  Arundel  Synod,  passed  the  resolution :  "  We 
enact  and  ordain  that  no  one  henceforth  do  by  his 
own  authority  translate  any  text  of  Holy  Scripture 
into  the  English  tongue  or  into  any  other  by  way  of 
book  or  treatise:  nor  let  any  book  or  treatise  now 
lately  composed  in  the  time  of  John  Wycliffe  or  since 
or  hereafter  to  be  composed,  be  read  in  whole  or  in 
part,  in  public  or  in  private,  under  pain  of  the  greater 
excommunication.  A  Bill  was  brought  into  Parliament 
to  suppress  the  translation,  but  was  rejected  by  a  vast 
majority,  showing  the  continued  and  increasing  aspira- 
tion of  the  laity  for  spiritual  freedom  and  release  from 
the  encroaching  power  of  Rome. 

The  Lollard  preachers  naturally  spread  the  trans- 
lation in  whole  or  in  parts  and  read  and  preached  from 
the  written  parchments  whicli  they  carried  with  them, 
one  of  them  more  particularly  having  left  his  mark  on 
English  life,  John  Ashton,  who  in  market-places,  at 
lairs,  in  churchyards,  under  the  roadside  trees,  or  in 
lowly  cottages,  read  and  preached  from  the  newly- 
published  gospel  to  the  wondering  awe  of  the  people 
moid  the  message  came  with  all  the  freshness  of  a 
new  revelation  and  a  resurrection  of  Truth  from  the 


1 64    WYCLIFFE  AND  THE  LOLLARDS 

dead.  The  same  Knighton,  scholar  and  divine  though 
he  was,  was  bitter,  not  only  about  the  circulation  of 
the  Scripture  in  the  vulgar  tongue,  but  also  about  the 
homely  men,  who,  in  their  russet  habits,  gathered  the 
people  around  them  and  gave  them  their  Scripture 
message.  In  1382  he  wrote :  "  Their  number  is  in- 
creased, and  starting  like  saplings  from  the  root  of  a 
tree,  they  are  multiplied,  and  fill  every  place  within  the 
compass  of  the  land." 

It  was  a  homely  translation  for  the  homes  of 
England,  and  Wycliffe's  rendering  of  St.  John  xiv.  1-4, 
a  passage  read  to  himself,  at  his  passing,  may  be  quoted 
as  an  example  of  the  style  and  forcible  homeliness  of 
the  whole  work : 

"  Be  not  youre  herte  afraid,  ne  drede  it ;  ye  bileuen  in 
God,  and  bileue  ye  in  me.  In  the  hous  of  my  fadir 
ben  many  dwellyngis ;  if  ony  thing  lesse,  Y  hadde  seid 
to  you,  for  Y  go  to  make  redi  to  you  a  place.  And  if 
Y  go,  and  make  redi  to  you  a  place,  eftsoones  Y  come 
and  Y  schal  take  you  to  my  silf,  that  where  Y  am,  ye 
be.  And  whidur  Y  go  ye  witen,  and  ye  witen  the 
weie." 

As  showing  the  value  set  nowadays  on  Wycliffe's 
Bible  and  Gospels,  the  case  may  be  cited  of  the  sale 
a  year  or  two  ago  at  Sotheby's  of  a  valuable  and 
interesting  MS.  of  Wycliffe's  New  Testament,  with 
calendar,  etc.,  on  341  leaves  octavo,  dating  from 
circa  1425.  It  is  finely  written,  27  of  the  pages 
have  very  choicely  illuminated  borders  of  flower 
decorations  connected  with  a  beautiful  ornamental 
initial,  and  there  are  many  other  separate  initials  with 
short  marginal  decorations.  The  pedigree  of  the 
volume  goes  back  to  the  time  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  for 


WYCLIFFE  AND  THE  ENGLISH  BIBLE    165 

in  July  1591  it  was  presented  by  Ralph  Rokeby, 
Master  of  the  Old  Foundation  of  St.  Katherine's 
Hospital,  to  William  Lambarde,  the  well-known 
Kentish  historian;  in  1773  the  MS.  was  in  the  posses- 
sion of  William  Herbert,  the  historian  of  English 
topography,  and  afterwards  in  that  of  Charles  Mayo, 
M.A.,  F.R.S.  (1767-1858),  first  Rawlinson  Professor  of 
Anglo-Saxon  at  Oxford,  and  was  inherited  by  the 
vendor.  It  was  lately  purchased  by  Mr.  Quaritch 
for  £550.  There  are  several  early  MSS.  of  Wycliffe's 
translation  of  the  Bible  in  existence,  and  during  the 
last  few  years  two  very  remarkable  versions  of  the 
complete  Bible  have  appeared  at  Sotheby's;  one  was 
in  the  sale  of  a  portion  of  the  Appendix  MSS.  of  Lord 
Ashburnham,  sold  at  Sotheby's  on  1st  May  1899,  on 
404  leaves  folio,  and  this  realised  £1750;  and  another, 
written  circa  1410,  on  269  leaves  folio,  sold  for  £1200 
on  16th  May  1901. 


CHAPTER   XII 

Wycliffe's  "Poor  Preachers" 

Ix  the  age  of  John  Wycliffe,  as  has  already  been 
indicated,  the  preaching  of  the  faith  of  Christ  had 
practically  disappeared,  and  though  the  friars  were 
preachers,  their  preaching  was  not  the  declaration  of 
the  truths  and  doctrines  of  the  faith,  but  general 
harangues  on  whatever  took  their  fancy,  and  their 
great  aim  was  to  attract  the  attention  and  sustain  the 
interest  of  their  hearers  by  any  means.  The  result 
was  that  their  preaching  often  descended  into  vulgar 
jesting  and  buffoonery.  But  the  Church  had  other 
means  of  reaching  the  masses  of  the  people,  namely, 
spectacular  displays  of  sacred  themes, — chiefly  the  life 
of  Christ,  the  Four  Last  Things;  and  some  slight 
account  of  this  theatrical  method  of  keeping  the 
common  people  in  touch  with  the  main  facts  of  the 
Christian  religion  seems  to  be  called  for,  as  the  Church 
in  this  as  in  many  other  matters  took  a  leaf  out  of  the 
book  of  Paganism  and  pasted  it  inside  the  book  of  the 
Gospels. 

It  is  needless  here  to  allude  to  the  place  and  power 
of  the  Greek  drama.  It  was  from  the  Athenian  stage 
that  Greece  got  her  tone;  the  orator  and  the  actor 
were  the  instructors  of  the  people.  Greek  philosophy 
might  suffice  for  the  few ;  the  Greek  drama  was  for 

106 


WYCLIFFE'S  "POOR  PREACHERS"      167 

all.  The  Athenian  actor  stood  before  the  assembled 
city,  and  could  appeal  to  the  open  sky  above  and  the 
earth  around ;  with  living  earnestness  he  could  point 
to  objects  dear  to  the  Athenian  heart — to  the  blue 
iEgean  and  the  gleaming  Parthenon.  It  was  then 
that  truths,  otherwise  abstract  and  unpractical,  were 
held  up  to  universal  admiration.  It  is  easy  to  imagine 
how  it  must  have  affected  the  vast  audience  when,  in 
Euripides,  the  actor,  pointing  to  the  blue  sky  overhead, 
exclaimed : 

"See'st  thou  th'  abyss  of  sky  that  hangs  above  thee, 
And  clasps  the  earth  around  in  moist  embrace  ? 
This  to  be  Jove  believe,  this  serve  as  God." 

The  early  Christians  denounced  dramatic  exhibitions 
in  no  measured  terms;  and,  not  content  with  words, 
they  refused  baptism  to  those  in  any  way  connected 
with  a  theatre.  Like  many  of  the  Reformers,  they 
confused  things  essential  and  non-essential ;  seeking  to 
avoid  Paganism,  they  became,  in  many  cases,  fanatics. 

The  Christian  Fathers,  of  whom  a  more  moderate 
spirit  might  have  been  expected,  loudly  denounced  all 
plays  of  whatever  kind.  "  It  is  a  shame,"  says  one 
Father,  "that  anyone  should  listen  to  a  comedian 
with  the  same  ears  as  he  hears  an  evangelical 
preacher."  And  Tertullian,  the  prince  of  polemical 
divines,  says  of  the  high  heels  worn  by  tragedians: 
■  The  devil  sets  them  upon  their  high  pantofles  to  give 
Christ  the  lie,  who  said,  'Nobody  can  add  one  cubit 
to  his  stature.' " 

Nearly  two  centuries  pass  away,  and  looking  once 
more  at  the  Christian  Church,  we  find  it  altered  not 
only  in  opinion  but  in  practice.     Many  things  at  first 


1 68     WYCLIFFE  AND  THE  LOLLARDS 

considered  immoral  or  irreligious  are  now  openly 
approved.  The  Church  discovers  that  the  drama  is 
not  only  harmless,  but  that  it  has  an  almost  infinite 
power  for  good :  it  was  seen  that  lessons  in  religion 
could  be  taught  with  greater  effect  from  the  stage 
than  from  the  pulpit.  The  performance  of  religious 
plays  dates  from  about  the  fourth  century  of  the 
Christian  era.  One  of  the  earliest  authors  of  such 
compositions  was  Gregory  of  Nazianzen,  the  master 
of  Saint  Jerome,  and  Patriarch  of  Constantinople. 
He  wrote  a  large  number  of  dramas  from  the  Old  and 
New  Testaments,  and  these  he  caused  to  be  acted 
instead  of  the  plays  of  Euripides  and  Sophocles 
throughout  his  diocese.  Christ's  Passion  is  the 
only  one  extant  which  is  known  certainly  to  be  of  his 
authorship;  all  the  others  are  lost.  A  German  nun, 
of  the  name  of  Roswitha,  is  said  to  have  assisted  him 
in  some  of  these  works.  Several  other  ecclesiastical 
dignitaries  engaged  themselves  similarly,  but  few  of 
their  plays  are  extant. 

For  several  centuries  religious  plays  ceased  to  be 
performed ;  but  after  the  Crusades,  towards  the  close  of 
the  fourteenth  century,  they  were  revived  by  pilgrims 
who  had  returned  from  the  Holy  Land.  The  right  of 
way  for  Christians  to  the  Holy  Sepulchre  was  then 
newly  acquired ;  yet  it  seems  strange  that  the  revival 
of  religious  dramas  should  originate  from  the  pilgrims. 
A  conjectural  explanation  may  be  offered.  At  the 
present  day,  during  Eastertide,  the  material  circum- 
stances of  our  Saviour's  Passion  are  represented  by  the 
monks  of  the  Sepulchre  at  Jerusalem. 

This  practice  is  known  to  be  of  long  standing, 
although   it  is  not  certain  that  it  was  in  existence 


WYCLIFFE'S  "POOR  PREACHERS"      169 

during  crusading  times.  It  is  very  probable,  however, 
that  the  returned  pilgrims  from  Palestine,  remembering 
the  telling  effect  of  the  representation  witnessed  at 
Jerusalem,  were  anxious  to  afford  the  common*  people 
frequent  opportunities  of  witnessing  such  exhibitions, 
and  hence  -revived  the  passion-plays.  Certain  it  is 
that  in  1390,  a  number  of  sandal-shod  pilgrims 
appeared  in  Paris,  and,  assisted  by  some  of  the  more 
influential  inhabitants,  erected  a  stage  on  which  they 
acted  The  Passion  of  Christ.  The  Parisians  were 
much  affected  by  the  spectacle,  and  from  that  day  the 
popularity  of  the  passion-plays  rapidly  increased. 
The  pilgrims  formed  themselves  into  a  "  Fraternity 
of  the  Passion,"  and  through  their  influence  the 
representation  of  these  religious  plays  flew  speedily 
over  Europe,  and  at  last  reached  the  shores  of 
England. 

Prior  to  the  Reformation  the  representation  of 
mysteries  was  one  of  the  chief  instruments  in  the 
religious  education  of  the  people;  and  nowhere  were 
they  more  frequently  performed  than  in  England. 
The  Chester  mysteries  vied  with  those  of  Coventry 
in  richness  and  splendour.  England  was  considered 
particularly  well  favoured  in  this  respect.  It  was  the 
boast  of  Henry  11.  that  "  London,  instead  of  common 
interludes  belonging  to  the  theatre,  had  plays  of  a 
more  holy  subject;  representations  of  those  miracles 
which  the  holy  confessors  wrought,  and  of  the 
sufferings  wherein  the  glorious  constancy  of  the 
martyrs  did  appear." 

The  Temptation  of  Christ  in  the  Wilderness,  the 
Descent  into  Hades,  the  Last  Supper,  the  Resurrection, 
Ascension,  and  the  Day  of  Judgment — these  were  the 


170     WYCLIFFE  AND  THE  LOLLARDS 

subjects  of  the  old  mysteries.  Round  the  rude  stage, 
erected  in  front  of  the  Cathedral  Church,  crowded 
the  rough  burly  Saxons  of  the  olden  time,  while  young 
and  old  gazed  with  mute  admiration  on  the  solemn 
scenes  enacted  before  their  eyes. 

"The  common  waies  with  bowes  are  strawde, 

And  every  streete  beside, 
And  to  the  walles  and  windowes  all 

Are  bowes  and  branches  tied. 
The  monkes  in  every  place  do  roame, 

The  nonnes  abrode  are  sent. 
The  priestes  and  schoolmen  loud  do  rore, 

Some  use  the  instrument." 

These  were  frequent  scenes  in  Old  England  both 
before  and  after  the  Reformation.  Not  only  in 
England,  however,  but  all  over  Europe,  these  sacred 
plays  were  acted.  Even  the  grave  fathers  who 
composed  the  Council  of  Constance  did  not  think  it 
beneath  their  dignity  to  become  actors  for  the 
nonce,  and  play  The  Massacre  of  the  Innocents.  In 
A.D.  1313,  Philip  the  Fair  gave  a  splendid  banquet  at 
Paris,  during  which  the  people  were  entertained  with 
a  miracle  play,  which  bore  the  odd  title,  The  Glory 
of  the  Blessed,  and  the  Torments  of  the  Damned. 
Monks,  bishops,  and  cardinals  not  only  countenanced 
such  performances,  but  also  took  part  in  them.  Had 
it  not  been  for  these  plays,  the  common  people  would 
have  been  utterly  ignorant  of  religion  and  the  gospel : 
and  although  frequently  there  were  incidents  more 
fitted  to  provoke  laughter  than  devout  feeling,  still  it 
is  undeniable  that  much  benefit  was  derived  from 
them  by  the  lower  orders. 

The  Chester  and  Coventry  mysteries,  the  religious 


WYCLIFFE'S  "POOR  PREACHERS"      171 

dramas  which  were  wont  to  draw  vast  crowds  all  over 
Europe,  are  now  dead  and  forgotten;  there  is  one 
solitary  survivor  of  the  miracle-plays  still  in  existence, 
the  famous  Passion-play  of  Oberammergau,  begun  so 
late  as  1633,  when  a  terrible  plague  raged  in  the 
Ammer  valley,  and  threatened  to  devastate  the  whole 
district,  whereupon  the  villagers  of  Ammergau  made 
a  solemn  vow  that  if  God  would  spare  them,  they 
would  represent  every  ten  years,  "  for  thankful 
remembrance  and  edifying  contemplation,  by  the  help 
of  the  Almighty,  the  sufferings  of  Jesus,  the  Saviour 
of  the  world."  This  vow  has  been  religiously  per- 
formed, and  regularly  as  the  years  glide  by  the  old 
drama  is  revived  and  the  old  interest  reawakened. 

It  probably  is  of  a  much  finer  type  and  tone  than 
the  ordinary  mysteries  of  Wycliffe's  time,  against 
which  the  Reformer  spoke  so  warmly.  It  is  really  as 
scriptural  as  anything  of  the  kind  could  be,  and  some 
years  ago  was  gone  through  in  the  Alpine  valley  with 
as  much  reverence  and  devout  feeling  as  of  old.  The 
play  consists  of  eighteen  acts,  each  scene  being  pre- 
ceded by  at  least  one  tableau.  The  tableaux  are  very 
vivid  and  striking,  and  form  a  background  to  the 
scene  in  the  Passion  of  Christ,  which  is  being  acted  in 
the  front  of  the  stage.  Thus,  the  first  scene  is  the 
"  Triumphal  Entry  of  Christ  into  Jerusalem " ;  the 
tableaux  representing  the  "  Expulsion  from  Eden,"  and 
a  cross  surrounded  by  children  kneeling  as  in  prayer. 
Again,  in  the  fifteenth  act,  the  scene  is  "Christ 
bearing  His  crass  to  Calvary,"  the  tableaux  behind 
representing  Isaac  carrying  wood  up  Mount  Moriah, 
and  Moses  erecting  the  brazen  serpent.  Thus  every 
scene  has  a  background.     The  performers,  in 


172     WYCLIFFE  AND  THE  LOLLARDS 

number  about  five  hundred,  include  a  large  proportion 
of  the  villagers :  men  and  women  of  all  ages  are  proud 
to  take  part  in  the  solemn  drama :  children  form  the 
tableaux,  whilst  adults  take  part  in  the  scenes.  The 
village  organist  is  the  author  of  the  music  sung  to  the 
hymns  which  occur  at  intervals  in  the  performance. 
The  tunes  are  very  appropriate;  often  low  and  sad, 
as  when  the  dead  Christ  is  being  laid  in  Joseph's  new 
tomb ;  but  again  light  and  joyful,  as  when  the  stone 
rolls  away  from  the  sepulchre,  and  the  Resurrection  is 
accomplished.  The  preface  to  the  Hymn  Book,  with 
which  we  shall  conclude  these  remarks,  shows  the 
devout  and  reverent  spirit  of  the  simple-minded 
villagers :  "  May  all  who  come  to  see  how  the  divine 
man  trod  this  path  of  sorrows,  to  suffer  as  a  sacrifice 
for  sinful  humanity,  well  consider  that  it  is  not 
sufficient  to  contemplate  and  admire  the  divine 
original;  that  we  ought  rather  to  make  this  divine 
spectacle  an  occasion  for  converting  ourselves  into 
His  likeness,  as  once  the  saints  of  the  Old  Testament 
were  His  fitting  foreshadowers.  May  the  outward 
representation  of  His  sublime  virtues  rouse  us  to  the 
holy  resolution  to  follow  Him  in  humility,  patience, 
gentleness,  and  love. 

"If  that  which  we  have  seen  in  a  figure  becomes 
to  us  life  and  reality,  then  the  vow  of  our  pious 
ancestors  will  have  received  its  best  fulfilment,  and 
then  will  that  blessing  not  fail  to  us  with  which  God 
rewarded  the  faith  and  the  trust  of  our  fathers." 

The  mysteries  and  miracle-plays  which  constituted 
the  drama  in  the  Middle  Ages  were  no  doubt  edifying 
to  mediaeval  taste,  and  to  its  sense  of  the  fitness  of 
things.      Whether   they  would    be   so  now   may  be 


WYCLIFFE'S  "POOR  PREACHERS"      173 

guessed  by  running  over  a  few  of  the  items  in  some 
accounts  for  expenses.  "In  Mysteries  enacted  at 
Coventry,"  says  Dr.  Draper,  "are  such  entries  as 
'  paid  for  a  pair  of  gloves  for  God,'  '  paid  for  gilding 
God's  coat/  'dyvers  necessaries  for  the  trymmynge 
of  the  Father  in  Heaven.'  In  the  play  of  the 
Shepherds  there  is  provision  for  green  cheese  and 
Halton  ale,  a  suitable  recruitment  after  their  long 
journey  to  the  birthplace  of  our  Saviour.  'Paid  to 
the  players  for  rehearsal:  imprimis,  to  God,  iis.  v'riid. ; 
to  Pilate  his  wife,  iis. ;  item,  for  keeping  fyer  at  hell's 
mouth,  Hid.*"  Mr.  Spencer  quotes  the  following: 
"  We  have  frequently  such  entries  as  these :  '  Item, 
payd  for  the  spret  (spirit)  God's  cote,  ijs.'  We  learn 
from  these  entries  that  God's  coat  was  of  leather, 
painted  and  gilt,  and  that  He  had  a  wig  of  false  hair, 
also  gilt."  Other  entries  are,  "  Paid  for  setting  the 
world  on  fire,  5d";  "Paid  for  mending  hell-mouth"; 
"  Cheverel  (peruke)  for  God."  Ludicrous  anachronisms 
are  common.  Thus,  says  Dr.  Draper:  "Noah's  wife, 
who,  it  appears,  was  a  termagant,  swears  by  the  Virgin 
Mary  that  she  will  not  go  into  the  ark,  and,  indeed, 
is  only  constrained  to  do  so  by  a  sound  cudgelling, 
administered  by  the  patriarch."  "In  the  play  of 
77"  Fall  of  Man,  Adam  and  Eve  appear  entirely 
naked,  one  of  the  chief  incidents  being  the  adjustment 
of  the  fig-leaves." 

Sharp's  Dissertation  on  the  Coventry  Mysteries  is 
a  revelation  of  the  state  of  the  religious  stage  in 
England  in  mediaeval  times.  The  grossest  and  most 
ludicrous  ideas  were  staged,  and  the  most  sacred 
scenes  and  names  treated  with  professional  lightness 
a ii<l  flippancy.     The  Harrowiwj  of  Hell,  one  of  the 


174     WYCLIFFE  AND  THE  LOLLARDS 

most  popular  of  the  Chester  mysteries — The  Drapers 
Play,  the  subject  of  which  was  the  creation,  in  whicli 
a  highly  humorous  representation  was  given  of  the 
extraction  of  Eve  out  of  Adam's  side;  Every  Man, 
The  Mystery  of  Candlemas  Day,  Hycke-Scorner,  The 
Shepherds  of  Bethlehem,  The  Modyr  of  Mercy  were 
the  favourite  sacred  dramas  of  that  age. 

The  Reformers  were  at  a  loss  how  to  regard  these 
highly  popular  methods  of  amusing  and  instructing 
the  people — methods  which  to  some  extent  have  been 
revived  during  Lent  and  Eastertide  in  France  and 
Spain,  though  England  some  years  ago  gave  a  pro- 
posed introduction  of  a  passion-play  in  London,  a 
very  plain  and  unceremonious  expression.  To  some 
extent  in  Jerusalem  during  Holy  Week  sacred  dramatic 
performances  are  to  be  seen  to-day.  The  dramatic 
sentiment  in  human  nature  is  difficult  to  eradicate, 
even  if  it  were  desirable. 

Wycliffe  vigorously  and  consistently  denounced 
these  exhibitions  and  representations  of  Bible  scenes 
and  persons;  while  Luther  declared  that  "such  spec- 
tacles often  do  more  good  and  produce  more  impression 
than  sermons."  Sir  David  Lindsay  of  the  Mount, 
whose  satires  on  the  Church  assisted  to  bring  about 
the  Scottish  Reformation,  witli  which  he  entirely  and 
cordially  sided,  not  only  approved  of  these  sacred 
and  moral  dramatic  exhibitions,  but  himself  wrote 
several  "moralities"  which  were  frequently  repre- 
sented,— some  of  them  dealing  severely  with  the  vices 
of  the  clergy,  at  the  time  being  performed  in  presence 
of  the  King  and  the  bishops.  •  The  position  of  Wycliffe 
was  that  the  pictorial  and  spectacular  teaching  of 
the    Church    should    be    superseded    by    the    simple 


WYCLIFFE'S  "POOR  PREACHERS "      17s 

preaching  of  the  simple  gospel,  and  that  an  end 
should  be  made  of  theatrical  instruction.  It  is  a 
very  large  question  how  far  forms  and  ceremonies 
may  aid  religious  instruction,  but  WyclifFe's  position 
was  a  clear,  distinct,  and  firm  one,  namely,  that  the 
plain  and  simple  preaching  of  the  gospel  was  the 
best  means  of  reaching  the  hearts  and  consciences  of 
men  and  women.  Accordingly,  his  "poor  preachers" 
were  sent  forth  russet-clad  to  preach  in  market-places, 
village-greens,  at  roadsides  and  crosses,  wherever  a 
congregation  could  be  gathered.  It  is  remarkable 
that  the  Roman  Church  in  a  later  age  should  have 
taken  a  leaf  out  of  Wycliffe's  book,  for  this  was  the 
very  method  adopted  by  St.  Francis  de  Sales,  bishop 
and  prince  of  Geneva,  when  he  founded  the  Oratorians, 
the  distinctive  character  of  whose  ministry  was — since 
the  Reformation  had  so  alienated  the  masses  of  the 
people  from  the  Church  —  to  win  them  back  by 
preaching  at  street-corners,  in  markets,  and  anywhere 
outside  or  inside  where  people  gathered,  the  stilted 
ceremonial  and  usages  of  the  ordinary  clergy  being 
abandoned  for  a  more  free-and-easy  commerce  with 
the  people — exactly  Wycliffe's  idea  and  method.  In 
course  of  time  they  built  beautiful  churches,  but  even 
yet  —  witness  the  sumptuous  Brompton  Oratory  in 
London  to-day,  the  home  of  Newman,  who  gave  the 
world  "  Lead,  kindly  Light,"  and  of  Faber,  who  sang 
the  sweet  devotional  reverie,  "  O  Paradise,  0  Paradise  " 
— there  are  no  pulpits,  only  a  chair  with  a  cross  beside 
it,  where,  seated,  the  Oratorian  brother  talks  familiarly 
and  conversationally  to  his  congregation.  It  is 
ftliffe'fl  idea,  borrowed  from  his  "poor  preachers" 
with  their  simple  talk  and  hearty  message. 


176     WYCLIFFE  AND  THE  LOLLARDS 

When  Victor  Hugo  said,  "Give  to  the  people  who 
toil  and  suffer,  for  whom  this  world  is  hard  and  bad, 
the  belief  that  there  is  a  better  made  for  them ;  scatter 
Gospels  among  the  villages — a  Bible  in  every  cottage," 
he  was  only  echoing  Wycliffe's  ideas  as  to  a  free 
and  open  Bible  and  Gospel.  Some  twenty  years  ago 
a  cheap  translation  of  the  Gospel  sold  in  thousands 
in  Paris,  the  novelty  of  the  work  was  so  great.  It 
was  a  wonderful  step  for  the  Church  of  Rome  to 
take  even  to  authorise  at  all  this  popular  edition  of 
the  Gospel.  It  was  a  pity  that  the  imprimatur  was 
withdrawn  and  that  other  things  happened  besides, 
which  are  quite  familiar  to  those  who  have  followed 
this  interesting  train  of  events;  but  that  does  not 
make  it  less  a  fact  that  for  once  the  Church  of  Rome 
opened  its  doors  to  the  simple  Scripture,  even  though 
it  closes  them  soon  after.  The  reference  I  made  was 
merely  a  reference,  and  as  such  it  was  impossible  to 
go  into  details,  which,  besides,  were  pretty  generally 
familiar.  I  still  hold  that  it  showed  an  advance  when 
such  a  step  as  this  granting  of  the  imprimatur  was 
ever  for  a  moment  entertained,  just  as  the  vast  sale 
of  the  New  Testament  Scriptures  in  Russia  of  late 
among  the  Jews — quite  as  striking  a  movement  as 
the  French  one  —  proved  a  certain  shaking  of  the 
dry  bones  amongst  a  religious  community  which  has 
hitherto  been  supposed  to  be  quite  as  bitterly  opposed 
to  the  circulation  of  the  New  Testament  as  the  Roman 
Church  has  hitherto  been  supposed  to  be  to  the  circula- 
tion of  the  entire  Bible.  The  mere  thought  of  the 
thing,  apart  altogether  from  the  execution,  much  more 
apart  from  any  other  circumstances,  adverse  or  other- 
wise, proved  a  spirit  of  advance. 


CHAPTER   XIII 

Wycliffe's  Theology 

By  far  the  most  outstanding  feature  of  Wycliffe's  life 
and  work  is  the  claim  he  makes  for  the  absolute 
supremacy,  sufficiency,  and  infallibility  of  the  Scrip- 
ture ;  and  his  work,  Of  the  Truth  of  Holy  Scripture, 
in  Latin,  develops  his  views  in  a  most  clear  and 
explicit  manner.  Christ  is  the  author  of  the  Scripture, 
and  as  the  Word  of  God,  it  should  be  in  the  hands 
and  heart  of  everyone,  cleric  and  lay — a  right  denied 
by  the  Church  of  Rome.  Father  Stevenson  in  his 
Truth  about  Wycliffe  denies  that  the  Roman  Church 
forbade  the  Bible  to  the  people,  and  quotes  passages 
from  the  early  Christian  Fathers  in  proof  of  this ;  but 
his  quotations  from  the  Fathers  of  the  first  six 
centuries  regarding  the  free  use  and  sole  infallibility 
of  the  Bible  only  bring  into  contrast  the  position  of 
the  later  Roman  Church  of  the  Middle  Ages,  after 
the  process  of  "development"  described  by  Newman 
had  resulted  in  the  denial  to  the  laity  both  of  the 
Book  and  of  the  Cup.  The  question  is  so  important 
a  one  in  the  Wycliffe  controversy,  as  showing  that  the 
Reformer's  desire  was  to  get  back  to  the  primitive 
position  of  the  Church  as  to  a  free  and  open  Bible, 
that  any  extracts  from  the  Fathers  will  at  once 
establish  Wycliffe's  position,  and  refute  the  arguments 
12 


178     WYCLIFFE  AND  THE  LOLLARDS 

of  Father  Stevenson  and  the  advocates  of  the  "  Catholic 
Truth  Society." 

Twenty  years  ago  the  publication  of  the  four  Gospels, 
translated  by  Henri  Lasserre  into  popular  and  homely 
French,  received  episcopal  sanction.  The  story  of  that 
popular  issue  of  the  Gospels,  and  the  sensation  made 
in  France  by  the  practical  rediscovery  of  the  Evangel, 
is,  however,  so  typical  of  Roman  methods  of  treating 
Bible-reading,  that  no  apology  is  made  for  retelling 
the  incident  as  recorded  in  the  Contemporary  Review 
at  the  time,  for  the  modern  incident  throws  a  flood 
of  light  on  the  Church's  relation  to  Scripture  in 
WyclinVs  age,  and  explains  the  vigour  and  force  of 
the  Reformer's  contention  to  give  back  again  the 
Bible  to  the  people, — a  triumph  accomplished  by 
Wycliffe  (notwithstanding  the  denial  that  he  did  so 
by  Father  Stevenson  and  others),  and  which  places 
him  for  ever  in  the  roll-call  of  history  as  an  "  epoch- 
maker." 

M.  Henri  Lasserre  was  a  French  barrister  and  literary 
man,  who  on  a  happy  day  discovered  the  four  Gospels. 
He  felt  the  spell  of  the  simple  but  profound  narratives 
which  reveal  Jesus  of  Nazareth;  saw  that  the  four- 
fold story  was  the  book  the  French  needed ;  believed 
that  the  Gospels  would  be  received  with  joy  by  his 
countrymen;  and  resolved  to  prepare  for  them  a 
version  worthy  of  their  acceptance.  The  result  was 
a  living  translation.  Every  page  said,  "  Read  me." 
The  arbitrary  divisions  of  chapters  and  verses  dis- 
appeared. The  narrative  fell  into  natural  clauses 
and  paragraphs.  The  Gospel  of  the  Kingdom  was 
made  as  attractive  to  the  reader  as  a  novel.  The 
most  charming  book  in  the  world  was  printed  in  such 


WYCLIFFE'S  THEOLOGY  179 

a  charming  form  that  all  might  read,  understand, 
enjoy,  and  love  it,  without  the  help  of  anyone. 

In  a  few  passages  there  are  traces  of  the  author's 
religious  bias,  but  in  questions  of  larger  importance 
he  breaks  away  from  the  traditional  renderings  of 
the  papal  -Church.  With  splendid  courage  he  trans- 
lates the  Greek  word  "repent"  by  "be  converted," 
instead  of  by  "  do  penance."  The  translation  is  made 
from  the  Greek,  and  the  translator  has  not  only 
consulted  the  commentators  of  his  own  Church  and 
the  Fathers,  but  has  not  neglected  Protestant  sources 
of  information.  The  result  is  a  free,  fearless,  and 
faithful  rendering,  remarkable  for  its  intrinsic  excel- 
lence, but  still  more  remarkable  as  the  work  of  a 
devout  Catholic. 

In  a  remarkable  preface  he  indicts  the  Church  of 
Rome  for  withholding  the  Gospels  from  the  people. 
He  deplores  the  "notorious  fact  that  the  Gospels  are 
scarcely  ever  read  by  those  who  profess  to  be  fervent 
Catholics,  and  never  by  the  multitude  of  the  faithful." 
Of  "a  hundred  persons  who  practise  the  Sacraments 
there  is  seldom  one  who  has  ever  opened  the  Gospels.' 
'The  Gospel — the  most  illustrious  book  in  the  world 
— is  become  an  unknown  book." 

He  declares  that  the  Bible  was  not  always  so 
neglected;  that  all  the  Fathers  urged  the  people  to 
read  both  the  Old  and  New  Testaments,  which  were 
intended  for  all  lands,  races,  and  times.  He  blames 
the  Protestants  for  their  free  handling  of  the  Bible, 
which  led  the  Council  of  Trent  to  decree  that  every 
translation  should  have  episcopal  sanction  and  ex- 
planatory notes;  and  then  falls  with  tremendous 
severity  on  the  modern  Roman  system  which  deprives 


180     WYCLIFFE  AND  THE  LOLLARDS 

the  people  of  the  Bible,  and  sends  forth   his  version 
of  the  Gospels  with  the  following  brave  words : 

"  We  must  lead  back  the  faithful  to  the  great  fountain  of  living 
water  which  flows  from  the  inspired  book.  We  must  make 
them  hear,  taste,  and  relish  the  direct  lessons  of  the  Saviour — 
the  words  full  of  grace  and  truth  which  fell  from  His  lips.  We 
must  put  before  them  those  teachings  which  have  been  given 
for  all  ages  by  the  perfect  Life— the  life,  perfectly  human  and 
perfectly  Divine,  of  Him  whom  no  sincere  intelligence  can  con- 
template without  bending  the  knee  ;  whom  no  true  soul  can  hear 
and  see  without  loving,  without  being  seized  with  the  desire  to 
follow  Him,  and  the  will  to  serve  Him.  We  must  put  the  world 
again  face  to  face  with  Jesus  Christ." 

The  book  was  published  in  the  closing  days  of 
1886,  or  early  in  1887,  with  the  imprimatur  of  the 
Archbishop  of  Paris  and  the  approval  and  benediction 
of  the  Pope.  The  imprimatur  placed  Lasserre's  version 
regularly  in  the  hands  of  the  French  people.  The 
Pope's  letter  placed  the  stamp  of  authority,  not  only 
on  the  translation  of  the  Gospels,  but  on  the  terrible 
preface.  Within  the  space  of  twelve  months  twenty- 
five  editions  were  published.  It  seemed  as  if  Roman 
Catholic  France  was  eagerly  accepting  the  living 
Gospel  of  the  living  God. 

When  the  book  had  reached  the  twenty -fifth 
edition,  a  splendid  edition  was  issued  "  at  the  request 
of  a  great  number  of  bishops  and  priests."  A  month 
after  the  first  letter  from  Rome,  His  Excellence  the 
Cardinal  Vicar  of  His  Holiness,  the  illustrious  Cardinal 
Parocchi,  wrote  a  second  letter,  also  dated  from  the 
Vatican.  He  declares:  "The  famous  author  of  the 
History  of  Notre  Dame  de  Lourdes  has  just  published 
a  French  translation  of   the   Holy  Gospels   which   is 


WYCLIFFE'S  THEOLOGY  181 

an  illumination  of  genius  ...  as  faithful  to  the  text 
as  to  the  purest  French."  Approved  by  the  clergy 
and  the  press,  the  book  became  the  Family  Bible  of 
France.  In  the  words  of  the  Bishop  of  Rodez — 
"  Under  the  blessing  of  God  the  book  goes  more  and 
more  into  ull  Christian  homes." 

At  this  point  the  Sacred  Congregation  by  a  decree, 
dated  December  19,  1887,  condemned  and  proscribed 
the  version  as  a  book  of  degraded  doctrine,  which  no 
one  was  to  read  or  possess.  The  immediate  result 
was  the  complete  withdrawal  of  Lasserre's  version 
from  circulation. 

Does  this  decree  place  the  Pope  in  the  Index  ?  How 
does  the  infallibility  stand  in  the  transaction  ?  Can 
the  Congregation  of  the  Index  annul  the  imprimatur 
of  the  Archbishop  of  Paris  ?  One  thing  is  certain : 
there  is  a  power  behind  the  Pope,  the  bishops,  the 
press,  and  the  people,  still  strong  enough  to  strike  the 
Gospels  from  the  hands  of  those  who  would  read  them. 
Another  thing  is  certain :  the  Gospels  have  a  power  to 
charm  both  priests  and  people  if  they  were  permitted 
to  read  them.  At  the  time  a  well-known  writer  said  : 
— "  What  is  not  certain  is  how  this  matter  will  end. 
Will  the  Pope,  the  cardinals,  the  bishops,  the  French 
s,  and  the  French  people  submit  to  be  treated  as 
children  incapable  of  judging  for  themselves?  What 
of  the  French  people  who  have  bought  the  twenty- 
five  editions  of  the  book,  and  who  have  heard  in  their 
own  tongue  their  Saviour's  voice,  which  is  still  ringing 
in  their  ears?  And  what  of  Henri  Lasserre,  on  whom 
the  Divine  eyes  have  looked  down  from  the  Cross  ?  Of 
one  tiling  I  can  assure  him,  he  has  the  sympathy  of 
all  who  love  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  in  sincerity.     And 


1 82     WYCLIFFE  AND  THE  LOLLARDS 

I  think  I  can  also  promise  that  the  people  for  whom 
his  version  was  intended  shall  not  be  left  to  perish 
for  lack  of  the  Bread  of  Life." 

This  strange  effort  of  the  Roman  Church  to  give  the 
liberty  of  Scripture  reading  to  the  people  and  yet  to 
circumscribe  it,  has  another  exemplification  in  the 
"Society  of  St.  Jerome  for  the  diffusion  of  the  Holy 
Gospels,"  of  which  Cardinal  Mocenni  is  president,  and 
Mercati,  the  Vatican  librarian,  secretary.  In  1902 
it  was  founded  to  supply  Italian  Gospels  to  the 
people,  and  for  less  than  twopence  a  little  volume  has 
been  going  through  an  immense  sale,  containing  the 
four  Gospels  and  the  "  Acts,"  printed  in  paragraphs, 
and  for  the  most  part  a  rendering  of  the  Vulgate  with 
footnotes.  In  the  Preface  reference  is  made  to  the 
work  of  the  English  Bible  Societies,  and  "  our  separated 
Protestant  Brethren  "  are  kindly  spoken  of,  only  it  is 
stated  with  regret  that  the  British  Testaments  set  up 
"the  Gospel  for  the  Church,  and  invite  readers  to 
draw  from  it  directly  and  exclusively  the  dogmas  of 
their  faith  and  the  rules  of  their  life,"  whereas  the 
Society  of  St.  Jerome  seeks  to  combine  the  two 
authorities  of  the  Bible  and  the  Church. 

The  spirit  of  the  Roman  Church  to-day,  greatly 
narrowed  and  accentuated  and  accompanied  with 
stronger  temporal  power  and  physical  force,  was  the 
spirit  which  Wycliffe  in  1380  had  to  fight  against. 
Wycliffe  boldly  announced  his  belief  in  the  sufficiency, 
authority,  and  infallibility  of  the  Scripture  apart  from 
any  human  institution  or  person,  and  that  the  de- 
parture from  the  "  evangelical  law,"  "  God's  Law,"  and 
"  Christ's  Law,"  as  he  calls  the  Bible,  and  the  mixture  of 
human  traditions,  at  first  slight  but  gradually  increasing 


WYCLIFFE'S  THEOLOGY  183 

till  wholesale  corruption  was  the  rule,  was  the  cause  of 
all  the  Church's  evils.  Wycliffe's  sentiment  as  to  Scrip- 
ture was  identical  with  Lord  Chillingworth's,  and  is 
the  root-principle  of  Protestantism — "The  Bible,  and 
the  Bible  alone,  is  the  religion  of  Protestants."  In  one 
passage  in  the  Trialogus  he  says : 

"  If  Christ  had  gone,  in  the  least  degree,  more  into 
detail,  the  rule  of  His  religion  would  have  become  to 
a  certain  extent  imperfect ;  but  as  it  now  stands,  lay- 
man and  cleric,  married  man  and  monk,  servant  and 
master,  men  in  every  position  of  life,  may  live  in  one 
and  the  same  service,  under  Christ's  rule.  The  evan- 
gelical law,  moreover,  contains  no  special  ceremonies 
whereby  the  universal  observance  of  it  would  have 
been  made  impossible;  and  therefore  the  Christian 
rule  and  religion,  according  to  the  form  of  it  handed 
down  to  us  in  the  gospel,  is  of  all  religions  the  most 
perfect,  and  the  only  one  which  is  in  and  by  itself 
good." 

In  Wycliffe's  original  contention  for  the  supremacy 
of  Scripture  as  the  only  rule  of  faith  and  life,  there 
lies  the  formal  principle  of  Protestantism,  and  the 
germ  of  the  Reformation.  Accordingly,  Father 
Stevenson  justly  declares  that  Wycliffe's  "  horrible 
heresies  "  were  the  fons  et  origo  of  all  the  later  Refor- 
mation troubles  and  revolutions.  While  through  the 
Middle  Ages  an  occasional  protest  was  heard  against 
■some  individual  doctrine  or  practice  of  the  Church, 
there  was  no  organised  attack  made  on  the  unscriptural 
institutions  until  Wycliffe  called  men  back  to  Scripture, 
pointing  to  it  and  to  the  state  of  the  Church, 
bade  them  look  on  this  picture  and  on  that. 

Stevenson,   indeed,  declares  that   Wycliffe's  teacher 


1 84     WYCLIFFE  AND  THE  LOLLARDS 

in    heresy   was   William    Hughes,   in   the    following 
passage : 

"  Whence  did  Wyclif  derive  these  uncatholic 
opinions  ?  Apparently  from  one  single  author.  He 
never  refers  to  any  such  source,  nor  has  any  such  been 
pointed  out  by  those  who  have  studied  his  writings. 
The  question  has  been  asked  more  than  once,  and  has 
never  been  answered.  Yet  Walden  has  quoted,  and 
that  more  than  once,  the  name  of  a  certain  William 
Hughes,  or  Hayes,  the  person  from  whom  Wyclif 
derived  many  of  his  errors.  To  him  he  was  indebted 
for  the  opinion  that  St.  Peter  was  never  at  Rome, 
consequently  never  was  bishop  there;  an  honour 
which  he  was  willing  rather  to  yield  to  St.  Paul. 
Several  other  of  his  errors  are  mentioned  by  Walden. 
That  this  individual  did  actually  hold  doctrines  con- 
trary to  the  orthodox  faith  is  unquestionable,  and  it  is 
equally  beyond  a  doubt  that  he  was  Wyclif's  teacher. 
Further  inquiry  reveals  additional  facts  which  place 
the  character  of  this  personage  before  us  in  a  dis- 
creditable light.  He  was  one  of  the  insurgents  who 
took  a  prominent  part  in  the  disturbances  which  broke 
out  in  Oxford  on  the  election  of  the  Chancellor  in  the 
year  1349.  During  these  '  grave  and  enormous  dis- 
sensions,' as  they  are  described  in  the  official  document 
which  was  issued  for  their  suppression,  some  persons 
were  wounded  and  some  were  killed.  The  rioters 
interrupted  the  Masses  which  were  being  said  in  St. 
Mary's  Church  for  deceased  benefactors,  and  drove  the 
officiating  priest  out  of  the  sacred  building.  William 
Hayes  (or  Hughes)  was  one  of  those  who  was  charged 
by  name  with  having  broken  open  the  common  chest 
of  the  University,  and  carried  off  the  seal,  the  money, 


WYCLIFFE'S  THEOLOGY  185 

the  books,  and  the  other  property  which  they  found 
therein  ;  and  these  they  were  ordered  by  the  Govern- 
ment to  restore,  under  severe  penalties.  The  history  of 
this  remarkable  outbreak  is  instructive,  marked  though 
it  be  by  sacrilege,  plunder,  and  violence,  for  it  solves 
what  hitherto  has  been  a  difficulty.  It  shows  us  what 
manner  of  man  he  was  to  whom  the  future  Reformer 
was  indebted  for  his  principles ;  and  we  now  recognise 
the  source  whence  John  Wyclif  derived  the  two  lead- 
ing peculiarities  of  his  character,  his  craving  after 
heresy,  and  his  contempt  for  constituted  authority." 

Stevenson,  however,  and  other  Roman  apologists  freely 
make  two  admissions, — first,  that  the  origin  of  all  the 
troubles  which  came  to  the  Church  of  Rome,  and  finally 
culminated  in  the  great  rebellion  of  the  sixteenth  cen- 
tury, lies  at  the  door  of  John  Wycliffe,  the  originator 
of  the  Protestant  spirit;  and,  second,  that  the  secret 
of  his  heresy  and  the  origin  of  his  evil  doctrines  was 
in  an  unguarded,  ignorant,  and  unguided  use  of  the 
Bible,  which  can  only  rightly  be  read  under  the 
guidance  of  the  Church  and  in  obedience  to  the  "  vox 
Petri,"  which  is  the  "  Vox  Dei." 

Hence  it  is  that  Wycliffe  is  designated  "  Doctor 
Evangelicus"  by  the  centuries,  as  other  lights  in 
theology  were  described  as  "angelicus,"  "  seraphicus," 
"  profundus,"  "  subtilis,"  "  irref  ragabilis,"  "  resolutis- 
simus,"  etc  His  perpetual  appeal  was  to  Scripture  as 
against  tradition  or  authority,  and  he  called  loudly  for 
a  return  to  the  primitive  Church  as  represented  by  the 
early  Fathers  to  whom  Scripture  was  everything,  and 
whose  brightest  wish  was  its  universal  diffusion. 

"  Hear  the  Church,"  cried  the  occupant  of  the  sacred 
chair  at  Tiberside,  —  "  vox    Petri,    vox    Dei  "  ;     but 


1 86     WYCLIFFE  AND  THE  LOLLARDS 

Wycliffe  answered,  "  It  is  impossible  that  any  word  or 
any  deed  of  the  Christian  should  be  of  equal  authority 
with  Holy  Scripture."  Papal  authority,  therefore,  came 
only  second  to  that  of  the  Scripture, — an  admission 
which  struck  at  the  root  of  the  entire  papal  system. 

In  his  works,  Wycliffe  shows  a  wonderful  knowledge 
of  all  Scripture.  The  Trialogus  and  all  his  works  are 
brimful  of  quotations  and  references.  He  acknowledges 
the  Bible  as  the  source  of  all  his  teachings.  The 
Waldenses  appealed  from  Church  law  to  Scripture 
truth,  and  thus  pointed  to  a  higher  tribunal  than  the 
Italian  chair ;  but  they  did  not  fully  grasp  the  doctrine, 
so  amply  exhibited  and  illustrated  by  the  rector  of 
Lutterworth,  of  the  absolute  and  infallible  and  sole 
authority  of  the  book. 

Tertullian  might  say,  "  Adoro  plenitudinem  scrip- 
turarum " ;  but  Wycliffe  said,  "  Adoro  auctoritatem 
solam  scripturarum." 

As  to  the  interpretation  of  Scripture,  in  his  earlier 
years  the  Reformer  claimed  two  guides — reason  and 
the  Church,  but  in  his  later  years  he  rejected  the  latter, 
and  declared  that  "  no  created  being  has  power  to  re- 
verse the  sense  of  the  Christian  faith, — the  holy  doctors 
put  us  in  no  difficulty,  but  rather  teach  us  to  abstain 
from  the  love  of  novelties,  and  to  be  sober-minded." 
But  the  chief  thought  which  he  opposes  to  this  view  is 
that  "  the  Holy  Ghost  teaches  us  the  meaning  of  Scrip- 
ture, as  Christ  opened  the  Scriptures  to  the  apostles." 

The  Spirit  of  Christ  teaches  the  reader  if  he  reads 
with  devoutness  and  humility,  and  to  every  honest 
"disciple  of  Scripture,"  Scripture  is  self-interpreting. 
True,  reason  must  be  brought  along  with  faith,  for 
the  "letter  killeth,  but  the  spirit  giveth  life."     Dean 


WYCLIFFE'S  THEOLOGY  187 

Stanley  took  up  the  same  position  when,  preaching  in 
Westminster  Abbey  on  the  completion  of  the  Revised 
Bible,  he  declared  that  "  for  the  first  time  an  attempt 
had  been  made,  imperfect  though  it  was,  to  reach  the 
original  meaning  of  the  sacred  words.  The  version  of 
the  sacred  text  now  presented  to  us,  enforces  upon  us 
a  lesson  which  we  were  always  apt  to  forget — namely, 
the  truth  that  the  Scripture  teaches  that  inspiration 
consists  not  in  the  letter,  but  in  the  spirit,  not  in  a 
particular  passage,  but  in  the  general  tendency  and 
drift  of  the  complete  words."  Wycliffe's  method  of 
scriptural  interpretation  recalls  to  a  considerable  extent 
the  advice  given  by  Charles  Dickens  to  his  children  in 
his  last  will  and  testament — "I  commit  my  soul  to 
the  mercy  of  God  through  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and 
I  exhort  my  dear  children  to  try  and  guide  themselves 
by  the  teaching  of  the  New  Testament  in  its  broad 
spirit,  and  to  put  no  faith  in  any  man's  narrow  con- 
struction of  its  letter  here  or  there." 

Locke,  too,  is  of  the  same  mind  when  he  says : 
"  I  read  the  Word  of  God  without  prepossession  or 
bias,  and  come  to  it  with  a  resolution  to  take  my  sense 
from  it,  and  not  with  a  design  to  bring  it  to  the  sense 
of  my  system."  Lord  Bacon  says :  "  Certainly,  as 
wines  which  at  first  pressing  run  gently,  yield  a  more 
pleasant  taste  than  those  where  the  wine-press  is 
hard-wrought,  because  these  somewhat  relish  of  the 
stone  and  skin  of  the  grape ;  so  those  observations  are 
most  wholesome  and  pleasant  which  flow  from  Scrip- 
tures gently  expressed  and  naturally  expounded,  and 
are  not  wrested  or  drawn  aside  to  commonplaces  or 
controversies :  such  a  treatise  we  will  name  '  the 
inations  of  Scripture.' "     Against  the  interpretation 


188     WYCLIFFE  AND  THE  LOLLARDS 

of  Scripture  by  an  outside  infallible  authority — the 
position  of  the  Roman  Church  in  the  matter,  Luther 
declared  that  "the  sacred  Scriptures  are  not  to  be 
understood  but  by  that  spirit  with  which  they  were 
written,  which  spirit  is  never  felt  to  be  more  powerful 
and  energetic  than  when  He  attends  the  serious  perusal 
of  the  writings  which  He  Himself  dictated.  Setting 
aside  an  implicit  dependence  on  all  human  writings, 
let  us  strenuously  adhere  to  the  Scriptures  alone." 

Wycliffe's  doctrine  of  the  Holy  Communion  was 
practically  the  same  as  that  of  the  interesting  Scottish 
Reformer  John  Craig,  once  prior  of  Bologna,  who,  having 
been  condemned  to  be  burned  on  19th  April  1559, 
escaped  through  the  remarkable  circumstance  that  on 
that  very  day  the  Pope  died,  and  in  the  tumult  of  the 
Roman  populace  he  got  deliverance.  A  Reformer 
within  the  Roman  Church,  he  had  an  almost  mira- 
culous pilgrimage  back  to  his  native  Scotland,  being 
delivered  from  destitution  through  a  dog  laying  a 
purse  of  money  at  his  feet  as  he  lay  in  despondency 
on  the  roadside.  After  reaching  his  native  land  he 
found  he  had  forgotten  his  native  tongue,  and  con- 
sequently was  employed  by  the  Reformers  in  Edinburgh 
to  preach  in  Latin  to  the  learned  in  the  Magdalene 
Chapel  in  the  Cowgate,  which  still  stands.  Thereafter 
he  became  Knox's  colleague  in  St.  Giles',  and  his 
"  Catechism  "  sums  up  the  conclusions  of  the  Reformers 
of  1560,  more  especially  as  regards  the  sacrament. 
These  views  are  practically  the  same  as  were  pro- 
pounded by  his  great  English  predecessor : 

"(J.  Is  Christ's  body  and  blood  in  the  bread  and 
wine?  A.  No;  but  His  body  and  blood  is  only  in 
heaven.     Q.  How   then  are  the   elements  called   His 


WYCLIFFE'S  THEOLOGY  189 

body  and  blood  ?  A.  Because  they  are  sure  seals  of 
His  body  and  blood  given  to  us.  Q.  Then  we  receive 
only  the  tokens,  and  not  His  body  ?  A.  We  receive  His 
very  substantial  body  and  blood.  Q.  How  can  that  be 
proved  ?  A.  By  the  truth  of  His  words  and  sacrament. 
Q.  Declare  that  by  the  sacrament.  A.  As  that  natural 
substance  of  the  elements  is  given,  even  so  the  natural 
substance  of  Christ's  body.  Q.  But  His  natural  body 
is  in  heaven.  A.  No  doubt,  but  yet  we  receive  it  on 
earth.  Q.  How  can  that  be  ?  A.  By  the  wonderful 
working  of  the  Holy  Spirit." 

It  must  be  carefully  noticed  that  with  the  first 
Reformers  the  doctrine  of  a  real  presence  was  clearly 
and  distinctly  taught,  —  not  transubstantiation,  nor 
Luther's  consubstantiation,  but  a  real  spiritual 
presence.  The  Zwinglian  dogma  of  a  simple  memorial 
and  symbol  was  in  direct  opposition  to  Calvin's 
Institutes  and  Knox's  Confession  of  Faith,  and  the 
doctrine  of  the  two  Reformed  Churches  of  England 
and  Scotland  in  the  Thirty-nine  Articles  and  the 
Confession  of  Faith  is  identical  with  that  enunciated 
by  Wycliffe  with  such  distinctness  and  persistency. 
In  opposition  to  Roman  transubstantiation  and  the 
cold  symbol  and  memorial  of  the  rationalist,  Wycliffe 
held  forth  the  scriptural  dogma  of  Christ's  real 
spiritual  presence  in  the  elements,  so  clearly  enunciated 
by  John  Craig  in  his  popular  Scottish  Catechism. 

As  to  the  Virgin  Mary,  he  declared  that  it  was  not 
necessary  to  salvation  to  believe  her  to  have  been 
without  original  sin,  nor  that  her  Assumption  was 
a  bodily  one.  Christ  is  the  great  High  Priest  and 
not  man,  and  Christ  is  above  all  earthly  kings,  whose 
vassals  they  are. 


190     WYCLIFFE  AND  THE  LOLLARDS 

His  views  of  conversion  and  repentance  are  identical 
with  those  of  the  Reformation,  and  saving  faith  in 
Christ  is  indispensable  to  salvation.  To  all  intents 
and  purposes  he  held  by  Luther's  doctrine  of  justifica- 
tion by  faith  in  Christ  alone.  The  basis  of  all  virtue 
is  humility,  and  love  is  the  first  Christian  virtue ;  as 
Christ  is  our  great  example,  and  the  Face  of  the  Thorn- 
crowned,  the  most  beautiful  in  the  Album  of  Heaven. 
Grace  is  the  source  of  goodness,  and  no  works  or  merits 
can  earn  it,  but  only  faith  in  Christ.  The  Church  is 
the  body  of  the  elect, — those  predestinated  to  eternal 
life.  Preaching,  not  ceremonial,  is  God's  chief  instrument 
in  the  conversion  of  sinners.  Images,  saint  and  Virgin 
worship  are  unnecessary,  though  all  intercede  for  and 
help  us,  and  we  ought  to  ask  their  aid.  "  It  seems  to 
me  to  be  impossible,"  he  once  said,  "that  we  should 
obtain  the  reward  without  the  help  of  Mary."  Wycliffe 
seems  to  have  been  a  pessimist,  and  to  have  believed 
that  the  world  was  growing  daily  more  corrupt ;  just 
as  St.  Bernard  of  Clugny  in  his  great  poem  declared : 
"  The  world  is  very  evil,  the  times  are  waxing  late, 
Be  sober  and  keep  vigil,  the  Judge  is  at  the  gate." 

He  believed  in  the  universal  priesthood  of  all  believers, 
the  fallibility  of  the  Pope,  the  original  equality  of 
bishop  and  presbyter,  and  the  necessity  for  all  Chris- 
tian priests  of  a  simple,  humble  life.  In  a  word,  for 
Christian  priest  and  layman  the  chief  consideration 
was  humbly  to  follow  "  in  His  steps  "  and  to  ask  "  what 
would  Jesus  do  ? " 

His  political  views  tended  to  communism,  or,  at  any 
rate,  to  Christian  socialism,  and  his  enemies  declared 
him  a  revolutionary  and  an  anarchist. 


CHAPTER    XIV 

The  Character  of  Wycliffe 

Of  modern  Roman  Catholics  few  have  stood  in  a  more 

unique  position  than  the  late  Marquis  of  Bute,  whose 

translation  of  the  Breviary  into  English  absorbed  so 

great  a  part  of  his  life,  time,  and  energy,  who,  as  George 

Eliot   said   of  her   translation   of   Strauss,  "began   it 

young  and  finished   it   old."     His  liberality  of  mind 

manifested    itself    in    his    study   of   Coptic   and   his 

admirable   and   scholarly   translation    of    the    Coptic 

Liturgy, — the   liturgy   of   a   non-Roman  Communion. 

Bifl  ^ifts  to  secular  universities  made  him  not  always 

popular  with  the  officials  of  his  Church  in  England, 

who  would  have  preferred  a  more  sectarian  convert. 

The  very  fact  of  his  translation  of  the  Breviary  showed 

lesire  to  popularise  the  best  of  Christian  biography, 

and  the  following  passage  in  a  hitherto  unpublished 

letter  to  the  writer,  ten  years  ago,  shows  that  the  spirit 

of   manly  criticism    and   inquiry   was   by   no   means 

stifled : — "  I  am  sorry  in  one  way  that  my  translation 

of  the  Roman  Breviary  is  out  of  print ;  on  the  other 

hand,  it  is,  of  course,  gratifying  to  me  that  the  work 

should  have  met  with  so  much   acceptance.     I   have 

been  deterred  from  undertaking  a  new  edition  partly 

by  the  desire  to  be  able  to  add  a  new  appendix  of  the 

national  offices  for  Scotland,  which  although,  I  believe, 

101 


192     WYCLIFFE  AND  THE  LOLLARDS 

now  quite  finished,  have  not,  so  far  as  I  am  aware,  as 
yet  received  the  sanction  of  the  Holy  See,  and  have 
certainly  not  yet  been  published  for  use.  But  still 
more  by  the  fact  that  the  present  Pope  has  been 
constantly  making  alterations  in  the  Breviary,  to  such 
an  extent,  indeed,  that  I  do  not  think  that  there  now 
exists  any  edition,  however  new,  which  has  fully  kept 
pace  with  the  number  of  his  changes.  These  changes 
have  in  one  respect  been  gratifying  to  me, — namely, 
that  he  has  ordered  the  omission  of  stories  such  as 
1  Constantine-and-the-bath-of-babies'-blood,'  of  which 
I  have  ventured  respectfully  to  impugn  the  exactitude." 
The  charming  way  in  which  the  scholarly  and  beloved 
Scotsman  (whose  heart  now  lies  in  the  Mount  of  Olives, 
opposite  the  Holy  City),  in  the  closing  sentence 
descriptive  of  the  tales  of  the  Breviary,  softens 
down  what  the  old  Adam  would  doubtless  have 
described  in  Tom  Fielding  language,  and  which 
would  have  been  included  in  the  preliminary  pre- 
supposition without  which  it  was  declared  to  have 
been  impossible  to  proceed  in  any  conversation  with 
the  late  Lord  Melbourne,  is  characteristic  of  the  man, 
who  ever  desired  to  learn  even  from  Wycliffe,  and 
was  a  subscriber  to  the  publication  of  the  Reformer's 
works.  An  Ultramontane  wasp  charged  him  for  doing 
this,  and  for  the  dissemination  of  heresy,  regarding 
which  Lord  Bute  wrote  as  follows  to  a  friend : 

"  No  one  was  more  surprised  than  I  myself  to  see 
in  the  papers  that  I  had  subscribed  to  the  fund  for 
publishing  Wiclif's  works.  But  it  occurs  to  me  that 
there  exists  an  historico-literary  society  called  the 
Wicliff  Society,  as  it  dedicates  itself  to  printing  his 
and  other  contemporary  English  works.     If  it  exists, 


THE  CHARACTER  OF  WYCLIFFE      193 

it  is  not  unlikely  that  I  may  be  a  subscriber  to  it,  as 
I  am  to  other  societies  which  print  mediaeval  things. 
Publications  of  this  sort  go  straight  into  the  hands 
of  my  librarian,  and  as  the  centre  of  the  library  is  in 
our  house  in  London,  which  never  was  furnished,  and 
which  my  father's  executors  rented  just  to  keep  his 
books  and  pictures  in,  I  seldom  come  across  them, 
unless  I  specially  ask  for  them.  This  I  have  never 
done  as  regards  Wiclif,  for  I  have  been  content  with 
Lechler's  Life,  which  contains  copious  extracts  from 
his  works,  MS.  as  well  as  printed.  His  works  are 
certainly  of  much  historical  interest;  and  if  people 
would  only  read  them  before  they  talk  about  him, 
we  should  not  hear  as  much  nonsense  about  him  and 
his  acts  and  opinions  as  we  do.  If  we  are  to  abstain 
from  printing  matter  of  literary  and  historical  interest 
because  we  do  not  agree  with  the  sentiments  expressed, 
philological  and  historical  science  would  finish.  I 
should  subscribe  without  scruple  to  publish  a  critical 
text  of  Arius's  Thalia  if  anybody  could  find  a  codex. 
Wiclif  is  in  the  same  case  with  Luther,  John  Knox, 
Savonarola,  and  others — people  never  read  their  works 
or  even  look  at  them  before  they  talk  about  them. 
As  to  Wiclif,  he  no  doubt  fell  into  errors,  but  I  believe 
that  he  intended  and  believed  himself  to  be  a  perfectly 
orthodox  and  devout  Catholic  priest,  and  that  he  was 
very  little  more  of  a  Protestant  than  you  or  I.' " 

If  Lord  Bute's  verdict  be  correct  as  to  Wycliffe,  then 
the  world  could  do  with  more  such  Roman  Catholics. 
But  unfortunately  such  is  not  the  verdict  of  the 
Church  of  which  the  Marquis  was  so  distinguished 
an  ornament. 

It  was  in  1884  that  the  five  hundredth  centenary 
*3 


194     WYCLIFFE  AND  THE  LOLLARDS 

of  Wycliffe's  death  was  held,  and  occasion  was  taken 
of  the  celebration  by  the  well-known  Jesuit  Father, 
Joseph  Stevenson,  to  write  his  large  and  important 
volume,  entitled  The  Truth  about  John  Wyclif,  his 
Life,  Writings,  and  Opinions,  chiefly  from  the  Evidence 
of  his  Contemporaries  (London :  Burns  &  Oates,  1885). 
He  selects  two  verdicts  from  well-known  mediaeval 
authorities  who  are  supposed  to  have  had  not  so  much 
the  ecclesiastical  as  the  historic  vision. 

Adam  of  Usk  writes  thus:  "England,  and  above 
all  London  and  Bristol,  stood  corrupted,  being  infected 
by  the  seeds  which  one  Master  John  Wyclif  sowed, 
polluting  as  it  were  the  faith  with  the  tares  of  his 
baleful  teaching.  And  the  followers  of  this  Master 
John,  like  Mahomet,  by  preaching  things  pleasing  to 
the  powerful  and  the  rich, — namely,  that  the  with- 
holding of  tithes  and  even  of  offerings,  and  the  reaving 
of  temporal  things  from  the  clergy,  were  praiseworthy ; 
and  to  the  young  that  self-indulgence  was  a  virtue, — 
most  wickedly  did  cast  abroad  murder,  snares,  strifes, 
variance  and  discords,  which  last  to  this  day,  and 
which  I  fear  will  last  even  to  the  undoing  of  the 
kingdom."1  Walsingham's  language  is  still  more 
emphatic.  According  to  his  estimate,  Wycliffe  was  "  an 
organ  of  the  devil,  the  enemy  of  the  Church,  the  con- 
fusion of  the  people,  the  idol  of  the  heretics,  the  mirror 
of  the  hypocrites,  a  promoter  of  schism,  the  sower  of 
hatred,  and  the  manufacturer  of  falsehood." 

Father  Stevenson  has  hardly  a  word  to  say  in  praise 

of  anything  which  Wycliffe  did  or  said  or  was, — which 

is  not  wonderful.     He  dismisses  Lechler's  "  masterly 

production "     and     Montagu     Barrows'    "  vague    and 

1  Chronicle,  p.  102. 


THE  CHARACTER  OF  WYCLIFFE     195 

declamatory  "  lectures  on  "  Wyclif 's  place  in  History  " 
with  scant  courtesy,  and  concludes  his  reference  to 
the  cheaper  forms  of  Wycliffe  literature  with  the 
words : 

Nothing  need  be  said  of  the  flood  of  sixpenny 
literature  which  has  been  issued  by  various  Protestant 
societies  and  by  private  enterprise.  They  aim  at  one 
object  only ;  and  that  is  to  keep  alive,  to  foster,  and 
if  possible  to  embitter,  the  dislike  and  contempt  which 
are  too  generally  felt  for  the  Catholic  faith;  and  to 
represent  John  Wyclif  as  a  benefactor  to  whom  all 
owe  a  debt  of  gratitude,  because  he  exerted  himself 
through  a  long  life  in  labouring  to  accomplish  its 
overthrow." 

After  tracing  his  heretical  tendencies  to  William 
Hughes,  whom  Walden  terms  "paedagogus  nostri 
Wycliffi"  and  casting  a  whinstone  at  his  memory 
as  a  communist  and  insurgent,  Stevenson  claims  that 
Wycliffe  was  not  the  instigator  of  the  vernacular 
English  Bible,  but  that  the  Scripture  incidents  were 
common  property  long  before  his  day,  and  that  even 
the  so-called  "  Wycliffe  Bible  "  was  the  work  of  other 
people.  The  influence  of  this  "  morning  star  of  the 
Reformation  "  was,  in  Stevenson's  view,  which  is  the 
view  generally  of  the  "  Catholic  Truth  Society "  and 
of  the  Italian  Church  in  Britain  generally,  altogether 
malign  and  deadly.  "  Of  Wycliffe  personally  we  have 
been  unable  to  form  any  exalted  estimate.  Intellectu- 
ally there  is  little  to  admire  about  him.  He  was  a 
voluminous  author,  and  has  left  behind  him  a  large 
mass  of  writings  upon  various  subjects,  thus  supplying 
us  with  ample  materials  on  which  to  form  an  estimate 
as  to  his  mental  capacity.     These  writings  are  remark- 


196     WYCLIFFE  AND  THE  LOLLARDS 

able  only  as  embodying  numerous  blasphemies,  heresies, 
errors,  and  absurdities  expressed  in  obscure  language. 

"  Morally,  he  does  not  command  our  respect.  He 
attacked  the  Church  of  which  he  was  a  priest,  and 
in  which  he  continued  to  minister  long  after  he  had 
denounced  it  as  the  synagogue  of  Satan.  He  rebelled 
against  that  ecclesiastical  discipline  which  he  had 
pledged  himself  to  maintain  and  enforce.  During 
many  years  he  drew  the  revenues  of  his  benefice, 
availing  himself  of  an  authority  which  he  declared 
to  be  illegal  and  ungodly ;  and  until  the  last  day  of 
his  life  he  administered  to  others,  and  he  himself 
received  the  Sacrament  of  the  Eucharist  according  to 
a  ritual  which  he  denounced  as  false  and  blasphemous. 
His  life  must  have  been  a  daily  lie,  and  he  died  as  he 
was  about  to  perpetrate  an  act  of  habitual  mockery 
of  the  great  Sacrifice  of  Calvary. 

"  The  religious  system  which  he  succeeded  in  intro- 
ducing among  his  countrymen  proves  upon  examination 
to  be  a  collection  of  errors  and  heresies,  each  of  which 
had  previously  been  condemned  by  the  common  voice 
of  the  Catholic  Church.  They  were  gleaned  by  him 
from  that  stock  of  falsehood  against  which  believers 
had  been  warned  by  our  Lord  from  the  beginning; 
but,  disregarding  the  caution,  he  picked  them  up,  made 
them  his  own,  and  bequeathed  this  inheritance  of  evil 
to  his  native  country.  England  accepted  the  legacy 
without  knowing  what  it  would  cost  her;  but  the 
knowlege  has  at  last  come.  It  is  only  after  centuries 
of  suffering  and  sin,  of  ignorance  and  rebellion,  of 
heresy  and  schism,  that  our  bitter  experience  enables 
us  to  'estimate  at  its  true  value  the  work  done  by  John 
Wyclif." 


THE  CHARACTER  OF  WYCLIFFE     197 

The  estimates  of  Wycliffe  by  such  Roman  contro- 
versialists must  be  put  opposite  those  of  the  Reformed 
Churches.  It  has  been  said  that  in  Britain  there  is 
the  Church  most  affected  by  the  Reformation — the 
Scottish,  and  the  Church  least  affected  by  the  Reforma- 
tion— the  Anglican.  The  statement  is  a  very  erroneous 
one,  and  based  on  wrong  facts.  As  a  matter  of  fact, 
the  two  national  Churches  at  the  Reformation  went 
hand  in  hand,  and  their  articles  are  about  equally 
plain  in  their  statements  as  to  Roman  errors  and 
papal  supremacy.  But  even  accepting  the  statement 
that  the  English  Church  has  a  cooler  sympathy  with 
the  Reformers  than  her  other  Reformation  sisters  in 
Germany,  Holland,  Scotland,  and  elsewhere,  it  is 
remarkable  that  inside  Lutterworth  Church  since 
1833  the  following  inscription  has  stood  on  Wycliffe's 
monument : 

"sacked  to  the  memory  op 
JOHN  WICLIF, 

THE   EARLIEST   CHAMPION   OF   ECCLESIASTICAL   REFORMATION 
IN  ENGLAND. 
HE  WAS   BORN   IN  YORKSHIRE   IN   THE  YEAR  1324. 
□I   THE  YEAR   1375   HE  WAS   PRESENTED   TO   THE   RECTORY  OF   LUTTER- 
WORTH :   WHERE   HE   DIED   ON   THE   318T   OF   DECEMBER   1384. 
AT   OXFORD  "HE  ACQUIRED  NOT   ONLY  THE   RENOWN  OF  A  CONSUMMATE 
SCHOOLMAN,  BUT  THE   FAR  MORE   GLORIOUS  TITLE  OF  THE  EVANGELIC 
DOCTOR. 
HIS    WHOLE  LIFE  WA8   ONE   PERPETUAL  STRUGGLE  AGAINST  THE 
CORRUPTIONS  AND   ENCROACHMENTS  OF   THE   PAPAL  COURT, 
AND   THE   IMPOSTURES   OF   ITS   DEVOTED   AUXILIARIES,    THE 
MENDICANT   FRATERNITIES. 
■II    LABOURS   IN   THE  CAUSE  OF  SCRIPTURAL    TRUTH   WERE  CROWNED 
BY   ONE  IMMORTAL  ACHIEVEMENT,    HI8  TRANSLATION   OF  THE  BIBLE 
K)   THE  ENGLISH   TONGUE. 
mi    -Ml'  .HIV    WORK   DREW   ON    HIM,    INDEED,    THE    BITTER 
HATRED   OF  ALL  WHO   WERE   MAKIN<;    Ml  l:<  IIANDISE  OF  THE 
POPULAR  CREDULITY   AND   IGNORANCE, 


198     WYCLIFFE  AND  THE  LOLLARDS 

BUT   HE   FOUND   AN   ABUNDANT   REWAIiD   IN   THE   BLESSINGS   OF   HIS 

COUNTRYMEN   OF   EVERY   RANK   AND   AGE,    TO   WHOM   HE 

UNFOLDED   THE   WORDS   OF   ETERNAL   LIFE. 

HIS   MORTAL   REMAINS   WERE   INTERRED   NEAR   THIS   STOT  ;    BUT   THEY 

WERE   NOT  ALLOWED   TO   REST   IN   PEACE.      AFTER  THE   LAPSE   OF 

MANY  YEARS,    HIS    BONES   WERE   DRAGGED   FROM   THE   GRAVE,    AND 

CONSIGNED   TO   THE   FLAMES  J   AND   HIS  ASHES   WERE   CAST   INTO   THE 

WATERS   OF   THE  ADJOINING   STREAM." 

And  the  majestic  obelisk,  thirty  feet  high,  in  the 
town,  near  the  church  erected  in  1897  to  commemorate 
the  fifth  centenary  of  the  Reformer,  bears  the  following 
inscription : 

"JOHN  WYCLIFFE, 

BORN  1324.        DIED  1384. 

rector  of  lutterworth  from  1374  to  1384. 

the  morning  star  of  the  reformation. 

the  first  translator  of  the  bible  into  the 

english  language. 

'search  the  scriptures.'     'the  entrance  of  thy  words 

giveth  light.' 

'be  followers  of  them  who  thro'  faith  and  patience 

inherit  the  promises.' 

'be  thou  faithful  unto  death.' 

erected  in  the  60th  year  of  the  reign  of  her  most 

gracious  majesty  queen  victoria." 

June,  1897. 

It  has  been  beautifully  suggested  that  neither  of 
these  memorials  is  so  truly  redolent  or  suggestive 
of  his  memory  as  "  the  steep  and  pebbly  path,  down 
which  the  remains  of  Wycliffe  were  carried  to  the 
water  and  the  rapid  little  stream  (as  we  saw  it  eddying 
and  sparkling  in  the  sunlight  of  a  spring  morning), 
constitute,  to  thoughtful  minds,  the  most  expressive 
memorial  of  the  earliest — and  probably  the  greatest — 
of  Ecclesiastical  Reformers  ! " 


PART   II 
THE  LOLLARDS  ^   ^ 

CHAPTER   I 

LOLLARDISM  IN  ENGLAND 

While  the  Lollards  were  said  to  have  got  their  name 
from  a  German  word  meaning  "  tares " — from  their 
heretical  position  and  views — it  is  said  with  greater 
appearance  of  truth  that  the  disciples  of  Wycliffe 
were  called  "  Lollards  "  from  their  singing  in  a  low  or 
hushed  voice — from  the  German  "  lollen  "  —  psalm- 
singers,  or  from  Walter  Lollardus,  who  on  the 
Continent  taught  his  principles.  The  Lollard 
preachers  went  about  England  in  couples,  clad  in 
t  gowns,  preaching  at  fairs,  in  market-places 
an<l  churches  and  houses,  teaching  the  simple  truths 
of  primitive  Christianity  with  zeal  and  simplicity. 

At  any  rate,  the  influence  and  principles  of  Wycliffe 
were  not  allowed  to  die,  but,  on  the  contrary,  spread 
with  raefa  imiiuring  vitality  that  it  became  a  proverb 
that  every  second  man  you  met  in  England  was  a 
Lollard.  About  a  fourth  of  the  nation  was  supposed 
to  be  in  sympathy  with  Wycliffe  views  by  the  close 
of  tl  enth  century. }  At  any  rate,  there  seems  to 

have  been  a  general  feeling  that  reform  in  some  way 


200     WYCLIFFE  AND  THE  LOLLARDS 

or  another  was  a  necessity:  the  luxury  and  excesses 
of  the  friars,  the  persecutions  of  the  hierarchy  and 
the  scandal  of  a  divided  papacy,  shocked  all  right- 
thinking  people,  and  produced  a  movement  towards 
reform.  Lechler  declares  that  the  name  of  Lollard 
was  not  generally  given  to  Wycliffe's  followers  until 
1385,  the  year  after  the  Reformer's  death,  and  that 
it  came  from  the  Netherlands,  having  been  first 
applied  to  the  "  Brothers  of  St.  Alexius "  or  "  fratres 
Cellitss,"  whose  works  of  love  and  ministries  of 
kindness  were  famous.  The  name,  at  any  rate, 
whether  derived  from  the  mythical  Walter  Lollard, 
from  the  "frates  Cellitae,"  from  the  "tares,"  or  the 
"singing,"  became  in  course  of  time  the  universal 
title  of  a  sect  which  had  gradually  grown  into  great 
power  and  importance. 

1  Wycliffe's  "  poor  preachers "  or  "  poor  priests  " 
appear  on  the  scene  somewhere  about  1382,  when 
Courtenay,  archbishop  of  Canterbury,  in  a  mandate 
to  the  Bishop  of  London,  refers  to  "certain  un- 
authorised itinerant  preachers,  who,  as  he  had 
happily  been  compelled  to  learn,  set  forth  erroneous, 
yea,  heretical  assertions  in  public  sermons ;  and  they 
do  this  under  guise  of  great  holiness,  but  without 
having  obtained  any  episcopal  or  papal  authorisation." 
In  several  tracts  of  this  period  Wycliffe  defends  his 
itinerants.  The  headquarters  of  the  order  seems  to 
have  been  at  Oxford.  i  Thorpe,  who  was  tried  by 
Archbishop  Arundel,  said  in  his  evidence  that 
"Maister  John  Wycliffe  was  holden  of  full  many 
men  the  greatest  clerk  that  -  they  knew  then  living, 
and  therewith  he  was  named  a  passing  ruly  man 
and  innocent  in  his  living."     Thorpe  adds  the  names 


LOLLARDISM  IN  ENGLAND  201 

of  several  whom  he  also  admired — John  Aston, 
Nicholas  Hereford,  John  Purvey,  and  others,  with 
whom  he  had  been  on  terms  of  close  intimacy  and 
personal  friendship.  This  intimacy  was  enjoyed 
probably  at  Oxford  and  not  at  Lutterworth.  In  his 
books  on-  The  Pastoral  Office,  and  Why  Poor 
Priests  have  no  Benefices,  Wycliffe  defends  his 
wandering  preachers  as  preferable  to  parish  priests 
who  do  not  preach,  but  at  the  same  time  he  defends 
the  parish  priests  who  do  so. 

Thorpe  was  a  priest  himself,  and  declares:  "By 
the  authority  of  the  word  of  God  and  also  of  many 
saints  and  doctors,  I  have  been  brought  to  the  con- 
viction that  it  is  the  office  and  duty  of  every  priest 
faithfully,  freely,  and  truly  to  preach  God's  Word. 
Without  doubt  it  behoves  every  priest  in  determining 
to  take  orders,  to  do  so  chiefly  with  the  object  of 
preaching  the  Word  of  God  to  the  people  to  the  best 
of  his  ability.  We  are  accordingly  bound  by  Christ's 
command  and  holy  example,  and  also  by  the  testimony 
of  His  holy  apostles  and  prophets,  under  heavy 
penalties,  to  exercise  ourselves  in  such  wise  as  to 
fulfil  this  duty  of  the  priesthood  to  the  best  of  our 
knowledge  and  powers.  We  believe  that  every  priest 
is  commanded  by  the  Word  of  God  to  make  God's 
will  known  to  the  people  by  faithful  labour,  and  to 
publish  it  to  them  in  the  spirit  of  love,  to  the  best  of 
our  ability,  where,  when,  and  to  whomsoever  we  may." 
tliffe's  preachers  were  both  priests  and  laymen. 
In  his  Speculum  Ecclesia  Militantis  he  boldly 
declares  that  a  single  unlearned  preacher  with  grace 
in  his  heart  and  the  fire  of  the  divine  spirit  on  his 
lips  can  often  effect  more  than  those  who  have  the 


202     WYCLIFFE  AND  THE  LOLLARDS 

hall-mark  of  the  universities  and  the  colleges.  In 
coarse  red  or  russet  woollen  cloth,  staff  in  hand  as 
became  pilgrims,  they  wandered  over  the  land, 
preaching  a  simple  gospel  and  diligently  explaining 
the  Scriptures  to  the  people.  In  forcible  language 
they  rebuked  the  sins  of  lofty  and  lowly,  and  lifted 
up  before  the  eyes  of  the  people  the  Perfect  Life. 
Several  of  Wycliffe's  tracts  on  these  itinerant  preachers 
are  very  suggestive,  notably — Of  Good  Preaching 
Priests,  Why  Poor  Priests  have  no  Benefices,  Of 
Feigned  Contemplative  Life,  Of  Obedience  to 
Prelates,  The  Mirror  of  Antichrist,  and  The 
Six  Yokes,  a  little  book  prepared  for  the  preachers 
themselves,  and  a  guide  to  them  as  to  how  and  what 
to  preach.  In  his  Saints'  Day  Sermons  he  gives 
outlines  of  discourses  evidently  intended  as  skeletons 
to  be  filled  in  by  the  individual  speakers  themselves 
with  matter  suitable  to  the  time,  place,  and  people. 
"The  itinerant  preacher"  movement  had  its  chief 
activity  from  1370-1382,  and  in  the  districts  im- 
mediately around  Oxford  and  Lutterworth  its 
strongest  hold. 

Some  of  these  notable  preachers  call  for  attention. 
The ,  nucleus  of  the  party  consisted  of  Nicholas  of 
Hereford,  John  Aston,  John  Purvey,  John  Parker, 
William  Swinderby,  William  Smith,  and  Richard 
Waytstathe.  Philip  Repyngdon,  once  a  warm 
supporter  of  the  Reformer,  recanted  and  turned 
against  the  Lollards,  being  afterwards  made, 
strange  to  say — as  if  to  befool  the  See  which  once 
was  held  by  Grossetete — Bishop  of  Lincoiri^in  1405, 
and  finally  died  as  a  cardinal. 

Nicholas  of  Hereford,  the  learned  doctor  of  theology 


LOLLARDISM  IN  ENGLAND  203 

who  assisted  Wycliffe  in  the  translation  more 
especially  of  the  Old  Testament,  became  after  the 
Reformer's  death  the  leader  of  the  movement.  John 
Aston,  like  Repyngdon,  deserted  the  Lollard  ranks, 
but  repented  and  became  one  of  the  most  outstanding 
of  the  preachers.  Wycliffe's  old  curate  at  Lutter- 
worth, John  Purvey,  who  also  actively  assisted  him 
in  his  Bible  translation  and  revised  the  whole  book, 
finishing  the  final  revision  in  1388,  is  named  by 
Knighton  as  one  of  "  the  four  arch-heretics  " — a  plain 
homely  man  with  sound  common-sense,  great  force 
of  character,  and  warm  zeal  in  preaching  the  gospel. 

John  l\irkrr  ifl  referred  to  by  the  Bishop  of 
Worcester  in  his  letter  of  1387.  William  Smith  was 
an  ordinary  citizen,  who,  it  is  said,  having  been 
disappointed  in  love,  threw  himself  with  zeal  and 
energy  into  the  ascetic  life.  William  Swinderby 
was  originally  a  hermit,  and  coming  to  Leicester 
preached  against  the  luxury  of  the  age,  the  deteriora- 
tion of  the  priesthood,  and  the  general  decadence  of 
the  world.  ^  From  his  pulpit  of  two  millstones  in  the 
High  Street  of  Leicester  he  addressed  crowds  of 
anxious  souls,  and  finally  was  cited  to  appear  before 
the  Bishop  of  Lincoln  to  answer  for  heresies,  "  for 
which,"  it  was  said  to  him,  "  you  deserve  to  be  made 
fuel  for  fire."  *  Removed  to  Coventry,  he  preached  with 
ii  greater  vigour;  and  the  multitude  prevented 
any  action  being  taken  by  the  Church  against  him. 
Next  he  retired  to  Herefordshire,  where  the  bishop 
of  that  diocese  instituted  proceedings  against  him 
in  1391. 

William    th.     Il.-rmit"    had    associated   with    him 
"Richard  the  Chaplain,"  or  Richard  Waytstath<',  who 


204     WYCLIFFE  AND  THE  LOLLARDS 

formerly  was  of  the  Augustinian  Church  in  Leicester, 
and  these  two  ardently  preached  the  Lollard  faith 
both  in  Leicester  and  elsewhere. 

While  these  "poor  preachers"  had  little  of  this 
world's  goods,  and  answer  to  the  description  given 
by  the  Roman  historian  Reinerus  in  the  thirteenth 
century  of  the  heretics  of  that  age,  "They  admit  of 
no  pride  of  dress ;  riches  they  seek  not  to  multiply, 
but  they  are  content  with  things  necessary ;  they  are 
always  engaged  either  in  working  or  in  learning  or 
in  teaching," — on  the  other  hand/ their  adherents 
included  many  men  and  families  of  weight,  worth, 
and  distinction  in  England.  The  Earl  of  Salisbury, 
Sir  Thomas  Latimer  in  Northamptonshire,  Sir  John 
Russell  in  Staffordshire,  Sir  Lewis  Clifford,  Durham 
(who  intervened  at  the  Lambert  Council  in  1378), 
Sir  Richard  Story,  Sir  Reginald  Hilton  (Durham), 
Sir  William  Neville,  third  son  of  Lord  Neville,  besides 
large  numbers  of  persons  in  middle  life  possessed  of 
means  and  influence,  all  stood  by  and  aided  the 
itinerant  preachers.  ) 

By  preaching  and  by  disseminating  the  Scriptures 
in  whole  or  in  parts,  the  cause  was  spread  and  the 
Lollard  influence  daily  strengthened.  For  Forshall 
and  Madden's  Wyclijffite  Versions  a  hundred  and  fifty 
MSS.  were  consulted,  and  twelve  of  these  were  of  a 
date  earlier  than  1400.  They  are  of  all  kinds,  some 
costly,  some  bare  and  poor,  but  all  well  worn  and 
well  used.  These  MSS.  gave  the  preachers  their 
theme ;  and  even  Roman  bishops  acknowledged  the 
good  and  power  of  their  sermons,  though  Lingard  says 
they  were  only  controversial.  The  Roman  Chronicler 
Knighton    describes    their    method    of    procedure : — 


LOLLARDISM   IN  ENGLAND  205 

"  "When  an  itinerant  preacher  arrived  at  the  residence 
of  some  knight,  the  latter  immediately  with  great 
willingness  set  about  calling  together  the  country- 
people  to  some  appointed  place  or  church  in  order 
to  hear  the  sermon ;  even  if  they  did  not  care  about 
going,  they  did  not  dare  to  stay  away  or  to  object. 
For  the  knight  was  always  at  the  preacher's  side, 
armed  with  sword  and  shield,  ready  to  protect  him 
should  anyone  dare  to  oppose  in  any  way  his  person 
or  his  doctrine.  Their  teaching  was  at  the  beginning 
full  of  sweetness  and  devotion;  but  towards  the  end 
it  broke  into  jealousy  and  calumny.  Nobody,  they 
said,  was  upright  and  pleasing  to  God  who  did  not 
hold  the  Word  of  God  as  they  preached  it,  for  thus 
in  all  their  preaching  did  they  hold  up  God's  Law." 

Preaching  in  the  open  air  or  wherever  they  could 
obtain  a  hearing,  the  Bible  was  also  read  with  per- 
haps a  tract  by  Wycliffe  or  Hereford  expounding  its 
meaning,  and  thus  people  learned  how  to  hear  and  read 
the  Scripture,  until,  finally,  it  became  quite  familiar 
to  the  common  people,  who  heard  and  read  it  gladly. 

Richard  II.  was  at  this  time  King  of  England,  and 
frowned  upon  the  Lollards;  but  though  persecution 
was  used  to  stamp  out  the  movement,  the  death- 
sentence  for  heresy  had  not  yet  made  its  appearance ; 
and  this  was  due  doubtless  to  the  influence  of  the 
Duke  of  Lancaster,  the  great  patron  of  Wycliffe,  and 
of  Richard's  queen,  Anne  of  Bohemia  and  sister  of 
the  King  of  Bohemia,  who  strongly  favoured  the 
new  movement,  read  the  Scripture  in  English,  and 
through  her  strong  personal  influence  introduced 
Lol lardy  into  Bohemia,  where  it  had  a  striking 
career,  as  we  shall  see  by  and  by. 


206     WYCLIFFE  AND  THE  LOLLARDS 

In  1387  Peter  Pateshull,  an  Augustinian  friar,  left 
the  cloister  and  became  a  Lollard,  preaching  against 
the  monastic  life,  which  he  declared  was  in  every  way 
inferior  morally  and  spiritually  to  the  life  of  a  good 
citizen.  At  last  his  old  associates,  the  Augustinians, 
waxed  furious  at  his  revelations  of  their  life  by  one 
who  knew  it,  and  a  party  of  twelve  of  them  interrupted 
the  preacher,  with  the  result  that  the  Lollards  rose 
and  drove  them  off,  even  threatening  to  burn  their 
monastery.  Pateshull  wrote  his  charges  down  and 
affixed  the  document  to  St.  Paul's  Cathedral,  as 
Luther  did  with  his  theses. 

In  1391  Walter  Brute  had  pled  the  Lollard  cause 
before  the  Bishop  of  Hereford,  arguing  very  much 
against  the  same  points.  In  Chaucer's  "  Plowman's 
Tale,"  a  picture  is  given  of  Church  and  Lollard  ways 
of  thinking  and  acting  which  agrees  with  these 
petitions ;  while  in  "  Piers  Plowman's  Creed "  the 
seeker  after  truth  is  repelled  by  the  pride  and  vices 
of  the  clerical  orders,  and  at  last  takes  his  gospel  from 
the  lips  of  a  simple  son  of  the  soil. 

In  1395  the  Lollards  petitioned  Parliament,  declaring 
their  doctrines  and  asking  for  reforms,  but  received 
scant  consideration.  Their  chief  conclusions  were, — 
that  the  Church's  great  temporalities  had  killed 
religion ;  that  the  present  priesthood  comes  not  from 
Christ  but  from  Rome ;  that  priestly  celibacy,  auricular 
confession,  transubstantiation,  exorcisms,  prayers  for 
the  dead,  pilgrimages,  perpetual  vows,  are  all  wrong 
and  unscriptural. 

In  1396  Archbishop  Courtehay  died,  and  Thomas 
Arundel  was  changed  from  York  to  Canterbury  ;  and 
one  of   his   earliest    acts   was  to  convene   a  council 


LOLLARDISM   IN  ENGLAND  207 

(February  1397)  to  deal  with  the  Lollard  heresies  as 
more  particularly  laid  down  in  Wycliffe's  Trialogus. 
Eighteen  articles  were  condemned,  referring  mainly  to 
Church  properties,  worldly  priests  and  government,  and 
doctrine.  An  old  enemy  of  Wycliffe  was  commissioned 
to  write  a  tract  against  the  Lollard  heresies,  which  he 
did  in  a  scholastic  manner :  this  was  William  Woodford, 
a  learned  Franciscan,  whose  Tractate  against  the  Errors 
of  Wycliffe  in  the  Trialogus  was  the  result.  But  no 
drastic  action  was  taken  against  Lollards  as  yet.  Not 
until  1396  was  persecution  resorted  to,  when  in  that 
year  four  men  from  Nottingham  recanted  before  the 
King's  Court  of  Justice. }  Changes  of  a  revolutionary 
character  were  in  the  air :  in  1397  Archbishop  Arundel 
was  banished  for  conspiracy  and  treason  in  complicity 
with  his  brother  the  Earl  of  Arundel,  and  was 
succeeded  as  Primate  by  Roger  of  Walden.  ( The  year 
1399  saw  the  deposition  of  Richard  II.,  and  the  Duke  of 
Lancaster,  son  of  John  of  Gaunt,  ascended  the  throne 
as  Henry  iv.  The  banished  Archbishop  Arundel  was 
reinstated,  and  through  political  circumstances  the 
King,  who  owed  his  position  to  the  hierarchy,  felt  called 
upon  to  repay  the  debt  by  persecuting  the  Church's 
old  enemies.  A  violent  persecution  of  the  Lollards, 
i^ated  by  archbishop  and  King,  began,  and  for  the 
first  time  in  history  England  beheld  the  spectacle  of 
martyrs  being  burned  alive  for  their  religious  beliefs. 
Act  "  De  haeretico  comburendo  "  was  placed  on  the 
Statute  Book  of  England,  and  power  was  given  to 
bishops  to  arrest  suspects,  and,  if  necessary,  to  hand 
them  over  to  the  civil  power,  "  to  be  by  them  burned 
on  an  high  place  before  the  people."  ;  It  was  in  this 
case  as  in  many  others  that  men  were  more  zealous  to 


208    WYCLIFFE  AND  THE  LOLLARDS 

persecute  others  for  their  faith  than  to  make  sacrifices 
to  prove  their  own ;  but  as  well  might  they  wring  the 
neck  of  the  crowing  cock  and  think  that  day  would 
never  come,  as  imagine  that  the  mowing  down  of  the 
grass  would  not  prevent  its  more  rapid  growth,  for  the 
blood  of  the  martyrs  is  the  seed  of  the  Church. 
^  The  first  Lollard  to  suffer  death  for  his  beliefs  was 
William  Sawtree,  priest  of  St.  Osyth's,  London.  He 
had  previously,  when  priest  of  St.  Margaret's,  Lynn, 
recanted  before  the  Bishop  of  Norwich ;  but  in  London 
he  again  openly  avowed  his  faith,  and  on  12th 
February  1401  was  summoned  to  appear  before  the 
Archbishop  of  Canterbury.  '  The  chief  charges  against 
him  were  that  "he  would  not  worship  the  cross  on 
which  Christ  suffered,  but  only  Christ  who  suffered  on 
the  cross  ;  that  every  priest  and  deacon  is  more  bound 
to  preach  the  Word  of  God  than  to  say  particular 
services  at  the  canonical  hours;  and  that  after  the 
pronouncing  of  the  sacramental  words  of  the  body  of 
Christ,  the  bread  remaineth  of  the  same  nature  that  it 
was  before,  neither  doth  it  cease  to  be  bread."  After 
two  days'  discussion  with  him  on  the  nature  of  the 
Eucharist,  he  was  declared  a  heretic,  on  24th  February 
brought  to  St.  Paul's  Cathedral  and  publicly  stripped  of 
his  sacerdotal  robes  and  handed  over  to  the  High 
Constable  and  Marshal  of  England  to  be  dealt  with. 
*  Early  in  March,  Sawtree  was  burned  at  Smithfield — the 
first  of  the  Lollard  martyrs,}as  Henry  iv.  was  the  first 
King  who  allowed  punishment  by  death  to  be  given 
for  religious  beliefs.  The  Continent  had  for  several 
centuries  known  what  this  meant:  as  early  as  1017 
several  canons  of  Orleans  Cathedral  in  France  suffered 
death  by  burning  for  heresy,  and  the  Dominicans  in 


LOLLARDISM   IN  ENGLAND  209 

the  thirteenth  century  received  strong  inquisitorial 
powers  from  the  Holy  Office  to  destroy  heretics  by 
fire.  But  until  1401  the  thing  was  unknown  in  the 
British  Isles. 

( The  destruction  of  Sawtree  made  a  terrible  impression 
upon  John~  Purvey,  Wycliffe's  old  curate,  whose  heart 
at  last  failed  him  for  fear,  and  on  5th  March  1401  he 
recanted  before  the  archbishop's  commissioners,  and 
publicly  read  his  recantation  at  St.  Paul's  Cross  on 
Sunday,  6th  March,  to  the  great  grief  of  his  old  friends. 
He  seems  to  have  returned  to  Lollard  principles  again, 
for  in  1421  Archbishop  Chichely  proceeded  against  him 
again  for  heresy. 

(  The  effort  to  exterminate  Wycliffe  ideas  was 
earnestly  undertaken  by  the  ecclesiastical  powers  in 
England,  and  more  particularly  in  London,  Rochester, 
Oxford,  Nottingham,  Norwich,  Bristol,  and  Worcester. 
John  Badby,  an  Evesham  tailor  in  the  last-named 
diocese,  was  in  1409  arraigned  before  Archbishop 
Arundel  and  the  rest  of  the  ecclesiastical  court  for 
denying  the  doctrine  of  transubstantiation ;  and  as  if 
to  bring  supernatural  aid  to  his  assistance,  Arundel 
declared  to  Badby  that  if  he  would  only  be  true  to  the 
Church's  doctrine,  he  would  himself  pledge  his  soul  for 
him  at  the  Judgment-day.  But  Badby  declared  that 
the  bread  was  only  the  symbol,  not  the  corporeal 
presence  of  Christ,  "and  that  if  every  host  being 
consecrated  at  the  altar  were  the  Lord's  body,  then 
there  would  be  twenty  thousand  gods  in  England."  On 
16th  March 'he  was  called  before  his  judges,  declared 
a  heretic,  passed  on  to  the  civil  authorites,  and  led  to 
Smithfield  to  be  burned.  The  Prince  of  Wales,  after- 
wards Henry  v.,  was  present,  and  urged  Badby  to 
1  I 


210     WYCLIFFE  AND  THE  LOLLARDS 

recant.  Bound  with  iron  chains  to  a  stake  with  piles 
of  dry  wood  and  an  oil-cask  around  him,  the  Prior  of 
St.  Bartholomew's,  Smith  field,  with  a  retinue  passed 
the  stake,  carrying  lighted  torches  and  in  the  midst  the 
host.  Asked  what  he  believed  that  host  to  be,  Badby 
said  he  "knew  well  it  was  hallowed  bread  and  not 
God's  body."  The  fire  was  kindled,  and  the  blaze 
began,  when  the  Prince  of  Wales,  thinking  that  the 
singe  would  do  its  work,  ordered  the  fire  to  be  ex- 
tinguished, which  was  done,  and  once  more  begged 
Badby  to  recant,  offering  also  money  and  favours,  but 
to  no  purpose.  The  fire  was  rekindled,  and  England's 
second  religious  martyr  met  his  doom  with  courage 
and  constancy. 

Still  pursuing  a  policy  of  the  utmost  rigour,  Arch- 
bishop Arundel  managed  to  shake  the  constancy  of 
some.  Some  recanted,  others  died  in  prison,  while 
others  met  their  fiery  death,  one  of  them— John  Resby, 
a  Wycliffite  from  England,  being  put  to  death  in 
Scotland  in  1407, — the  first  person  who  suffered  death 
in  that  country  for  heresy. J  Arundel  formulated  an 
order  of  proceedings  by  which  for  the  first  offence  the 
heretic  was  excommunicated,  and  for  the  second 
condemned  to  burning.  He  also  forbade  the  reading  of 
the  Scriptures  in  English  or  in  any  other  language,  or 
of  books  of  religion  unless  permission  were  first  had  of 
the  ordinary,  adding  that  it  was  "  a  dangerous  thing 
to  translate  the  text  of  Holy  Scripture  out  of  one 
tongue  into  another." 

(William  Thorpe  was  an  outstanding  victim  of 
Arundel's  persecuting  zeal,  chiefly  owing  to  his  emi- 
nence and  abilities  as  a  priest. 

For  twenty  years  he  had  been  an  itinerant  preacher 


LOLLARDISM  IN  ENGLAND  211 

in  Northern  England,  when  in  1397  he  was  seized  in 
London,  but  liberated  on  Arundel's  banishment.  In 
1407  he  was  again  seized,  and  imprisoned  in  Salt  wood 
Castle  in  Kent.  The  archbishop  interrogated  him,  and 
advised  him  to  recant. '  Tyndale  nearly  two  centuries 
later  published  the  account  of  these  interrogations, 
which  the  reforming  party  greatly  valued, — a  work 
prohibited  by  royal  proclamation  in  1530,  but  preserved 
by  Foxe  in  his  Acts  and  Monuments.  Regarding 
transubstantiation  Thorpe  referred  to  Scripture.  As  to 
the  worship  of  images,  he  declared  that  not  only  that 
practice,  but  confession,  pilgrimages,  and  other  eccle- 
siastical uses  were  wholly  unscriptural.  After  his 
condemnation  he  declared — "To  witness  to  the  truth 
of  my  convictions  I  am  ready  in  humility  and  in  joy 
to  suffer  my  poor  body  to  be  persecuted  where  God 
wills,  and  by  whom  and  when  and  for  how  long  a  time, 
and  to  endure  whatever  punishment  and  death  that  He 
sees  fit  to  the  honour  of  His  Name  and  to  the  building 
up  of  the  Church."  cThe  registers  do  not  state  that  he 
was  burned,  but  he  was  probably  done  to  death  or  died 
of  sickness  in  prison.  John  Ashton  had  previously 
c-  line  to  a  similar  end  for  his  Lollard  heresies  as  to  the 
sacrament  of  the  altar.  * 

About  this  time  Archbishop  Arundel  sent  a  mandate 
to  the  Bishop  of  London  requiring  men  to  say  prayers 
to  the  Virgin  at  the  sound  of  the  curfew  bell.  He 
declares — "  We  truly ;  as  servants  of  her  own  inherit- 
ance, and  such  as  are  written  of  to  be  her  peculiar  dower, 
ought  more  watchfully  than  others  to  show  our 
«1.  votinn  in  praising  her,  who  being  hitherto  merciful 
to  us  (yea,  being  even  cowards)  would  that  our  power, 
being   spread    through   all   the   coasts   of   the    world, 


212     WYCLIFFE  AND  THE  LOLLARDS 

should,  with  a  victorious  arm,  fear  all  foreign  nations. 
That  our  power  being  on  all  sides  so  defended  with 
the  buckler  of  her  protection,  did  subdue  unto  our 
victorious  standards,  and  made  subject  unto  us,  nations 
both  near  at  hand  and  far  off.  We  grant  by  these 
presents  to  all  and  every  man  who  shall  say  the  Lord's 
Prayer  and  the  Salutation  of  the  Angel  five  times  at 
the  morning  peal,  with  a  devout  mind,  forty  days' 
pardon."  Archbishop  Arundel's  capricious  arrange- 
ments were  almost  unbearable.  In  one  city  he  forbade 
the  organs  to  be  used  in  church  because  the  bells  were 
not  rung  one  morning  as  he  unexpectedly  passed 
through.  He  was  a  thoroughgoing  believer  in  the 
unique  power  of  the  Vicar  of  Christ — "  the  key-bearer 
and  porter  of  eternal  life  and  death,  bearing  the  place 
and  person  not  of  a  mere  man,  but  of  true  God  here 
upon  earth."  And  this  at  a  time  when  there  were 
rival  Popes, — at  one  time  three  of  them,  who  excom- 
municated each  other,  and  were  finally  all  declared 
heretics  and  deposed  by  general  councils. 

On  6th  October  1406  the  University  of  Oxford  put 
forth  a  document  regarding  Wycliffe  and  his  teachings, 
which  owed  its  origin  to  the  report  which  widely 
circulated  in  Bohemia  and  the  Continent  generally,  that 
the  English  bishops  had  declared  him  a  heretic,  and 
had  ordered  his  bones  to  be  dug  up  and  burned.  The 
genuineness  of  the  document  has  been  challenged,  but 
it  seems  to  have  been  issued  in  the  name  of  the 
chancellor  and  regents  of  the  university,  and  was 
sealed  with  the  common  seal,  and  copies  transmitted 
to  Bohemia  and  elsewhere. 

This  testimony  of  Oxford  University  to  Wycliffe 
says:    " The  conduct  of   Wycliffe    even    from   tender 


LOLLARDISM   IN  ENGLAND  213 

years  to  the  time  of  his  death,  was  so  praiseworthy 
and  honourable,  that  never  at  any  time  was  there  any 
offence  given  by  him,  nor  was  he  aspersed  with  any 
note  of  infamy  or  sinister  suspicion  :  but  in  answering, 
reading,  preaching,  determining,  he  behaved  himself 
laudably :  and  as  a  valiant  champion  of  the  truth,  he 
vanquished  by  proofs  from  Holy  Scripture  and 
according  to  the  Catholic  Faith  those  who  by  wilful 
beggary  blasphemed  the  religion  of  Christ.  Never 
was  this  doctor  convicted  of  heretical  depravity,  nor 
was  he  delivered  by  our  prelates  to  be  burned  after  his 
burial.  For,  God  forbid  that  our  bishops  should  have 
condemned  so  good  and  upright  a  man  as  a  heretic, 
who  in  all  the  university  had  not  his  equal,  as  they 
believed,  in  his  writings  on  logic,  philosophy,  theology, 
ethics,  and  the  speculative  sciences."  In  1411  the 
Convocation  of  the  province  of  Canterbury  stigmatised 
this  testimony  as  "  a  letter  of  falsehood " ;  but  this 
evidently  refers  to  the  false  doctrine  of  Wycliffe,  not 
to  the  forgery  of  the  letter.  The  letter  certainly 
expresses  the  feeling  of  Oxford  at  the  time  it  was 
written,  and  even  Convocation  itself  complained  of 
heresies  and  errors  prevalent,  Arundel  himself  in  1408 
declaring  that  where  once  the  vine  grew,  there  were 
now  only  thistles.  In  that  visitation  of  the  colleges 
Archbishop  Arundel  arranged  that  every  month  the 
inmates  be  examined  by  the  heads  regarding  their 
soundness  in  the  Church's  faith,  and  if  heresy  were 
found  there  was  to  be  first  warning  and  then  expulsion 
and  excommunication.  Arundel  in  1411  revisited 
Oxford  to  insist  on  these  reforms  as  he  thought  them. 
In  1414  the  reactionary  spirit  had  triumphed  in  the 
university,  and  after  Henry  v.  ascended  the  throne  the 


2  14     WYCLIFFE  AND  THE  LOLLARDS 

college  heads  presented  to  His  Majesty  a  memorial  in 
which  they  promised  to  do  all  they  could  to  crush 
Lollardism.  Wycliffe  had  been  dead  thirty  years,  and 
the  severe  measures  taken  by  Arundel  and  the  bishops 
to  stamp  out  Lollardism  from  Oxford  University  seem 
to  have  triumphed,  and  the  reactionary  movement 
again  was  in  the  ascendancy  to  the  destruction  of 
Wycliffism.  Oxford  thereafter  began  to  decline:  the 
papal  scholasticism  killed  original  thinking,  and  for 
more  than  a  hundred  years  the  university  was  dead  so 
far  as  things  of  the  mind  and  soul  were  concerned. 
The  old,  fresh,  original  vitality,  scholarship  and 
character  infused  into  the  beautiful  homes  by  the 
Isis  by  the  saintly  scholar  and  his  associates  were 
dried  up,  and  the  university  life  for  a  century  was 
destitute  of  originality,  force,  freshness,  and  moral 
power.  The  Church  was  not  everywhere  destitute  of 
life  and  aspiration.  The  Renaissance  spirit  was  abroad, 
and  Dante  and  Petrarch  and  Fra  Angelico  had  been 
dreaming  their  dreams  and  bidding  Europe  arise  and 
shine.  It  was  in  the  very  year  of  Arundel's  second 
visit  to  Oxford  that  the  University  of  St.  Andrews  was 
founded  (1411),  and  James  I.  of  Scotland  gave  to  the 
world  the  King's  Quair  only  a  few  years  later. 
Intellectual  and  soul-life  were  struggling  after  a  wider 
freedom,  which  eventually  was  given ;  but  the  reaction- 
ary spirit  again  gripped  the  centre  of  England's 
intellectual  life,  and  Oxford  relapsed  into  the  dead 
mechanicalism  which  existed  before  the  freshness  of 
Wycliffe's  spirit  bade  the  dry  bones  live.  The  spirit  of 
Chaucer,  who  died  in  1400,  interpreted  the  aspira- 
tions of  the  people,  it  is  true,  but  the  ecclesiastical 
authorities  set   their   faces   as   a   whole   against   any 


LOLLARDISM   IN   ENGLAND  215 

slackening    of    the    swaddling-clothes    of    mediaeval 
scholasticism. 

(  Henry  I  v.  died  in  1413,  and  his  son  Henry  v. 
succeeded  him.  Archbishop  Arundel  died  the  follow- 
ing year — the  memorable  year  in  which  the  Council 
of  Constance  held  its  first  sittings.  Henry  Chichely 
was  anointed  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  and  renewed 
Arundel's  onslaught  on  Lollardism  with  fresh  zeal. 
At  Arundel's  synod  in  St.  Paul's,  held  in  1413  to 
combat  the  spreading  Wycliffe  heresy,  an  outstanding 
offender  often  referred  to  was  Sir  John  Oldcastle,  Lord 
Cobham,  who  was  a  warm  friend  of  the  Lollards, 
spread  Wycliffe's  Scriptures  and  writings  vigorously 
abroad,  and  generally  supported  the  much-needed 
reform  of  the  Church. ;  When  Henry  v.  heard  read  to 
him  one  of  Wycliffe's  writings  found  in  the  possession 
of  Lord  Cobham,  he  declared  that  he  had  never  heard 
such  heresy,  but  bade  them  pause  in  proceeding 
against  him  until  he  himself  had  had  an  opportunity  of 
conversing  with  him  and  convincing  him  of  his  errors. 
When  the  King  had  urged  upon  him  the  duty  of 
obeying  Holy  Church,  Cobham  replied :  "  As  touching 
the  Pope  and  his  spirituality,  I  owe  them  neither  suit 
nor  service,  as  I  know  him  by  the  Scriptures  to  be  the 
great  Antichrist,  the  Son  of  Perdition,  the  open 
adversary  of  God,  and  the  abomination  standing  in 
the  holy  place."  At  last  Arundel  sent  his  chief 
summoner  to  Cowling  Castle  in  Kent,  the  seat  of  Lord 
Cobham,  and  demanded  his  submission.  Availing 
himself,  however,  of  the  special  privileges  of  an  English 
noble,  Cobham  declined,  and  continued  entertaining 
the  Lollard  preachers  and  pressing  forward  the 
Lollard     cause.      The    archbishop    then     caused     his 


216    WYCLIFFE  AND  THE  LOLLARDS 

citation  to  be  posted  at  the  gates  of  Rochester 
Cathedral,  and  passed  sentence  of  excommunication 
upon  "  the  good  Lord  Cobham,"  as  he  was  affectionately 
styled  by  the  common  people,  and  called  upon  the 
civil  power  to  deal  with  him. 

To  clear  himself,  Lord  Cobham  prepared  a  paper 
summing  up  his  imdividual  confession  of  faith ;  and, 
obtaining  an  audience  of  the  King,  presented  his  paper 
and  begged  His  Majesty  to  read  it  over  and  judge  for 
himself  how  far  he  was  right  or  wrong.  Under 
Arundel's  strong  influence,  however,  the  King  refused 
to  read  it,  but  ordered  that  it  should  be  handed  over 
to  the  archbishop.  The  archbishop's  summons  was 
read  over  to  Cobham  in  the  royal  presence.  Cobham 
appealed  to  the  Pope ;  but  the  King  would  not  suffer 
it,  and  ordered  his  immediate  arrest,  which  was  done 
in  the  King's  presence,  whence  he  was  taken  to  the 
Tower  of  London,  a  portion  of  which  is  still  called  to 
this  day  the  "Cobham  Tower."  On  23rd  September 
1413  he  was  brought  before  the  prelates  in  the  chapter- 
house of  St.  Paul's.  Arundel  told  him  of  his  summons 
and  sentence  of  excommunication ;  but,  standing  in 
wholesome  dread  of  the  people,  with  whom  Cobham 
was  exceedingly  popular,  he  offered  to  give  him 
absolution  if  he  submitted.  In  answer,  Cobham  read 
his  defence,  or  more  accurately  the  statement  of  his 
views,  namely:  "1.  That  the  sacrament  of  the  altar 
is  Christ's  body  in  the  form  of  bread.  2.  As  to 
penance,  it  is  needful  for  every  man  that  shall  be 
saved,  to  forsake  sin  and  to  do  penance  for  former 
sins,  with  true  confession,  real  contrition,  and  due 
satisfaction,  as  God's  law  teaches.  3.  That  images 
were  permitted  by  the  Church  to  represent  to  ignorant 


LOLLARDISM   IN   ENGLAND  217 

men  the  death  and  sufferings  of  Christ,  and  that  who- 
soever worshipped  them  became  an  idolater.  4.  As  to 
pilgrimages,  every  man  was  a  pilgrim  to  bliss  or  woe, 
and  that  he  who  knew  not  God  and  kept  not  His 
commandments  would  be  damned  although  he  went 
on  all  the  pilgrimages  in  the  world ;  while  those  who 
knew  the  will  of  God  and  kept  it  would  be  saved, 
though  they  never  went  on  any  pilgrimage  as  men 
go  to  Canterbury  or  Rome  or  other  places." 

Archbishop  Arundel  in  his  suave  manner  declared 
that  Cobham's  paper  contained  many  good  things,  but 
said  he  wished  to  inquire  further  to  his  views  upon 
the  sacraments  and  confession.  Cobham  said  he  stood 
by  his  confession  in  writing;  and  after  a  few  more 
days  in  prison,  and  on  being  brought  up  again,  he 
was  asked  "  whether  there  remained  material  bread 
in  the  sacrament  after  the  words  of  consecration  or 
not."  Arundel  promised  to  send  him  in  writing  the 
determinations  of  the  Church  on  the  various  disputed 
points,  which  he  did,  summing  up  the  Church's  faith 
under  four  heads:  1.  A  clear  statement  of  transub- 
stantiation — the  bread  and  wine  disappearing  as  such 
after  consecration.  2.  The  duty  of  confession  by  every 
Christian.  3.  Christ  gave  His  power  to  St.  Peter,  and 
through  him  to  all  his  successors  in  the  Holy  See,  who 
ought  therefore  to  be  implicitly  obeyed  as  Christ's 
Vicars.  4.  Pilgrimages  are  meritorious,  and  the 
worship  of  images  and  relics  of  the  saints  and 
martyrs  is  a  duty. 

I  )u  the  Monday  his  trial  was  resumed  at  the 
Dominican  Convent,  Ludgate.  Exposed  to  the  taunts 
and  insults  of  a  crowd  of  monks  and  friars,  he  was 
again  offered  absolution,  but  declined.     Kneeling  down 


2i8     WYCLIFFE  AND  THE  LOLLARDS 

on  the  pavement,  he  raised  his  hands  to  heaven  and 
said :  "  I  confess  myself  here  unto  Thee,  my  eternal 
living  God,  that  in  my  frail  youth  I  offended  Thee, 
O  Lord,  most  grievously  by  pride,  wrath,  covetousness, 
lust,  intemperance.  Many  men  have  I  injured  in  mine 
anger  and  done  other  horrible  sins :  good  Lord,  I  ask 
Thee  mercy ! "  Standing  up  with  tears  in  his  eyes, 
he  exclaimed  loudly :  "  Lo,  good  people,  lo,  for  breaking 
of  God's  law,  and  His  great  commandments,  these  men 
never  yet  cursed  me;  but  for  their  own  laws  and 
traditions  most  cruelly  do  they  handle  me  and  other 
men.  Therefore,  both  they  and  their  laws,  according 
to  the  promise  of  God,  shall  be  utterly  destroyed." 
There  was  a  great  scene  of  confusion  among  the  clerics 
and  friars  and  monks  at  this  appeal  from  St.  Peter  to 
the  people  of  England,  and  only  after  a  time  was  the 
archbishop  able  to  resume  his  examination.  Asked  as 
to  his  belief,  Cobham  said :  "  I  believe  fully  and 
faithfully  in  the  laws  of  God.  I  believe  that  all  is 
true  which  is  contained  in  the  sacred  Scriptures  of  the 
Bible.  Finally,  I  believe  all  that  my  Lord  God  would 
have  me  believe."  Asked  as  to  his  views  on  the  real 
presence  on  the  altar,  he  gave  as  his  final  decision : 
"  The  Scriptures  make  no  mention  of  material  bread. 
In  the  sacrament  there  is  both  Christ's  body  and  the 
bread :  the  bread  is  the  thing  that  we  see  with  our 
eyes ;  but  the  body  of  Christ  is  hid,  and  only  seen  by 
faith."  At  once  all  present  cried  out  that  it  was 
heresy.  With  perfect  calmness  Cobham  went  through 
further  examination.  Friar  Palmer  asked  him  if  he 
would  worship  the  cross  on  ■  which  Christ  died ;  and 
Cobham  said  that  it  was  not  the  cross  which  should  be 
worshipped,  but  Him  who  suffered  and  died  upon  it. 


LOLLARDISM   IN   ENGLAND  219 

Cobham  was  then  condemned:  declared  a  heretic  in 
the  matter  of  the  real  presence,  penance,  papal  power, 
and  pilgrimages,  and  the  sentence  of  condemnation 
concluded  with  the  statement  that  the  judges  had 
imitated  Christ,  "who  willeth  nor  the  death  of  a 
sinner,  but  "rather  that  he  might  be  converted  and 
live."  This  was  after  Arundel's  most  unctuous  style ; 
for  his  practice  was  to  cover  his  malignity  with 
a  seraphic  smile,  and  veil  his  judgments  with  suavity 
and  sweetness.  The  registers  at  Lambeth  Palace  state 
that  "he  made  use  of  the  most  sweet  and  gentle  terms 
in  addressing  the  prisoner:  and  that  when  he  found 
his  endeavours  to  reclaim  him  in  vain,  he  was  compelled 
to  pronounce  sentence,  and  he  did  so  with  the  bitterest 
sorrow."  After  hearing  his  sentence,  with  perfect 
composure  and  cheerfulness  Cobham  addressed  the 
judges  thus:  "Though  ye  judge  my  body,  which  is 
but  a  wretched  thing,  yet  I  am  certain  and  sure  ye 
can  do  no  harm  to  my  soul,  any  more  than  Satan  did 
to  the  soul  of  Job.  He  that  created  it  will  of  His 
infinite  mercy  and  according  to  His  promise  save  it. 
Of  this  I  have  no  manner  of  doubt :  and  as  concerning 
the  articles  of  my  belief,  by  the  grace  of  the  eternal 
God  I  will  stand  to  them  even  to  the  very  death." 
Turning  to  the  people,  he  said:  "Good  Christian 
people,  for  God's  love  be  well  aware  of  these  men,  else 
they  will  beguile  you  and  lead  you  blindfold  into  hell 
with  themselves."  Falling  on  his  knees,  with  hands 
and  eyes  towards  heaven,  he  prayed :  "  Lord  God 
eternal,  I  beseech  Thee  of  Thy  great  mercy's  sake  to 
forgi\«  my  persecutors,  if  it  be  Thy  blessed  will." 
He  was  then  removed  to  the  Tower  awaiting  his  death 
warrant ;  but  serene  in  that  virtue  which  is  bold  and 


220     WYCLIFFE  AND  THE  LOLLARDS 

that  goodness  which  is  never  fearful,  and  contemplating 
not  so  much  the  number  or  quality  of  the  opponents 
as  the  equity  of  the  cause  in  the  eyes  of  the  Eternal 
Judge.  For  himself,  he  was  of  the  stuff  of  which 
martyrs  are  made ;  and  in  his  view  good  lives  were  like 
sea-water,  never  perfectly  sweet  till  drawn  upwards  to 
heaven.  Virtue  is  bold,  and  goodness  never  fearful, 
and  the  best  hearts  are  the  bravest. 

( Cobham,  however,  had  many  friends :  indeed,  had 
this  not  been  the  case  quicker  work  would  have  been 
made  of  him  by  the  ecclesiastical  authorities.  "  A  man 
of  integrity,  dearly  beloved  by  the  King,"  as  the 
historian  describes  him,  all  eyes  were  fastened  on  his 
fate.  False  rumours  declared  he  had  recanted,  and 
Cobham  contradicted  them.  Delay  after  delay  took 
place  in  the  carrying  out  of  the  sentence ;  and,  availing 
himself  of  a  dark  night,  he  escaped  from  the  Tower 
and  fled  into  Wales,  where  he  remained  concealed  for 
a  time.  ' 

(  The  screw  of  persecution  received  another  twist, 
and  the  Lollard  folk  were  forbidden  to  assemble, — an 
injunction  which  they,  like  the  faithful  in  the  cata- 
combs and  the  soldier-harried  on  the  Scottish  moors, 
disobeyed,  meeting  in  small  groups  often  at  dead  of 
night.  On  the  7th  of  January  1414  a  company  of 
them  gathered  in  St.  Giles'  Fields,  then  a  country  copse 
with  thickets  and  brushwood,  *  though  now  covered 
with  a  network  of  busy  streets,  where  the  bird-stuffer, 
the  saddler,  and  the  antiquary  have  their  special  home, 
in  the  midst  of  which  stands  Wren's  Church,  where 
the  dreamer  of  Paradise  Lost  and  Regained  takes 
his  last  sleep. 

The  impression  was  abroad  that  Cobham  would  be 


LOLLARDISM   IN  ENGLAND  221 

there.  The  enemies  of  the  Lollards  tried  to  use  this 
incident  to  stir  up  the  King's  dislike  against  them  by- 
insinuating  that  it  was  the  beginning  of  a  rebellion. 
The  King,  who  was  at  Eltham,  was  informed  that  Lord 
Cobham  was  at  St.  Giles'  Fields  at  the  head  of  20,000 
Lollards,  who  intended  to  seize  the  King's  person, 
destroy  Cobham's  persecutors,  and  place  him  on  the 
throne  of  England.  At  once  Henry  v.  assembled  his 
nearest  troops  and  marched  to  the  place,  where  only 
a  few  poor  Lollards  were  assembled,  probably  for 
praise  and  prayer.  The  city  gates  were  closed.  It 
was  thought  that  the  London  Lollards  and  the  country 
ones  intended  on  that  night  to  combine.  {  Arrived  at 
the  scene,  Henry  and  his  bijou  army  attacked  the 
meeting :  twenty  were  killed  and  sixty  taken  prisoners : 
he  advanced  farther,  thinking  to  meet  the  real  Lollard 
army,  having  routed  the  advanced  guard;  but  the 
army  was  non-existent.  In  the  end,  thirty-nine 
Lollards  were  condemned  and  burned  or  hanged  in 
St.  Giles'  Fields,  on  the  ground  of  having  conspired 
against  the  King  and  devised  not  only  his  death,  but 
the  destruction  of  the  royal  princes  and  many  civil 
and  spiritual  dignitaries.  Lord  Cobham  does  not  seem 
to  have  been  there,  but  advantage  was  taken  of  the 
incident  to  pass  a  bill  of  attainder  against  him,  and  to 
offer  a  reward  of  1000  merks  for  his  arrest,  and  a 
boon  of  perpetual  exemption  from  taxes  to  the  town 
whose  inhabitants  should  first  secure  him.  (  Among 
the  thirty-nine  Lollard  victims  were  Sir  George  Acton, 
Beverley  a  preacher,  Browne  a  knight,  and  William 
Murle  a  wealthy  brewer  of  Dunstaple. ' 

Agincourt    was    fought    in    1415,    and    Henry    V. 
returned  to   England   flushed  with  his   victories.     In 


222     WYCLIFFE  AND  THE  LOLLARDS 

the  fall  of  the  year  1417  Cobham  was  arrested  in 
Wales  by  Lord  Powis  and  brought  to  London,  and 
indicted  on  the  charge  of  instigating  rebellion  in 
January  1414.  Cobham  knew  he  was  doomed,  and 
being  asked  for  his  defence  he  replied :  "  With  me  it 
is  a  small  matter  that  I  should  be  judged  of  you  or  of 
man's  judgment,"  after  which  he  was  sentenced  to  be 
hanged  as  a  traitor  and  burned  as  a  heretic.  He  was 
dragged  upon  a  hurdle  with  every  barbarity  and 
insult  to  St.  Giles'  Fields,  hung  alive  on  chains  between 
two  gallows,  a  fire  kindled  below  him,  and  so  slowly 
roasted  to  death.  He  had  before  his  execution  exhorted 
the  Lollards  to  stand  firm  in  the  Scriptures,  and  to 
have  nothing  to  do  with  false  teachers.  As  long  as  life 
lasted  he  continued  praising  God  and  blessing  His  Holy 
Name.  It  was  a  cruel  fate,  nothing  short  of  murder, 
for  his  hands  were  clean  of  conspiracy  or  treason  in 
any  form  against  his  sovereign  and  government. 

Lord  Cobham  was  undoubtedly  the  most  illustrious 
victim  in  the  Lollard  cause  up  till  now,  and  after  his 
death  Lollardism  seemed  to  decline,  mainly  through 
the  stern  measures  taken  to  repress  it.  Their  political 
aspect  disappeared  for  the  most  part,  and  henceforth 
they  were  persecuted  as  religious  heretics.  In  1415 
John  Claydona,  furrier,  was  accused  before  Archbishop 
Chichely  of  heresy,  there  having  been  found  in  his 
possession  a  booklet  called  The  Lanthom  of  Light, 
which  pointed  out  various  Roman  errors ;  and  though 
this  man  could  neither  read  nor  write  it  was  written 
out  at  his  expense,  and  he  declared  that  "  many  things 
he  had  heard  from  this  look  which  were  profitable, 
good,  and  healthful  to  his  soul."  Along  with  a  baker, 
Richard  Turning,  lie  was  burned  at  Smithfield 


LOLLARDISM   IN   ENGLAND  223 

In  1416  Chichely,  following  Arundel's  policy  of 
extirpation,  issued  a  mandate  requiring  that  in  every 
parish,  twice  every  year,  three  persons  should  be 
examined  on  oath  and  required  to  give  information 
as  to  any  persons  within  the  bounds  who  had  suspected 
books,  held  conventicles,  or  encouraged  Lollardism  in 
any  way.  If  such  suspects  were  discovered,  they  were 
to  be  burned  or  imprisoned  until  the  next  convocation 
of  the  clergy. 

(  In  1422  Henry  v.  died  in  his  very  prime  of  life  and 
vigour,  and  the  infant  Henry  vi.  succeeded,  his  Regents 
being  John  of  Bedford  and  Humphrey  of  Gloucester. 
These  latter  showed  little  desire  to  prosecute  the 
Lollards,  though  in  the  first  year  of  the  regency  a 
priest  in  the  diocese  of  Canterbury,  William  Taylor, 
was  burned  at  Bristol  for  heresy. ;  He  stated  that 
only  God  is  to  be  worshipped  and  not  the  saints,  and 
that  "  to  pray  to  any  creature  is  to  commit  idolatry." 
After  examination  by  the  friars  he  was  degraded  from 
his  priesthood;  cup  and  paten,  gospel  and  tunicle, 
epistles  and  cruet,  candlestick  and  key,  surplice  and 
tonsure  were  in  turn  removed  from  him,  and  finally 
he  was  burned. 

In  1424  a  plain  turner  residing  in  Norfolk,  John 
Florence,  was  charged  with  heresy  as  to  the  Pope's 
authority  and  the  worship  of  images.  Brought  before 
the  chancellor  of  the  diocese,  he  submitted  and  did 
penance  for  three  Sundays  in  Norwich  Cathedral,  and 
for  other  three  in  his  own  parish  church  at  Shelton, 
bein.  lined    with   a  rod  before   all  the  people, 

cloth»<l  in  canvas  shirt  and  breeches,  and  carrying  a 
lighted  taper  in  liis  hand.  ( In  the  diocese  of  Norwich 
the  meaenree  taken  against  the  Lollards  at  this  time 


224     WYCLIFFE  AND  THE  LOLLARDS 

were  specially  severe,  and  altogether  a  hundred  and 
twenty  names  are  recorded  of  those  who  in  this 
district  were  burned  or  punished  in  some  way  between 
1424  and  1431 ;  and  the  striking  thing  about  them  all  is 
the  practical  unanimity  of  their  beliefs  and  principles. 

In  1424  a  priest  of  the  name  of  William  White,  a 
learned  and  upright  clerk,  who,  having  imbibed  the 
Lollard  faith,  gave  up  his  orders,  and,  having  married, 
continued  his  ministry  in  preaching,  teaching,  and 
writing.  The  same  views  characterised  him  as  his 
predecessors, — God,  not  man,  can  forgive  sins ;  image- 
worship  is  unscriptural,  and  the  Pope  is  not  the  friend, 
but  the  enemy  of  God's  truth.  Greatly  reverenced  by 
the  people,  he  was,  however,  tried  and  condemned,  and 
burned  at  Norwich  in  September  1424.  In  the  bishop's 
register  mention  is  made  of  John  Baker  who  was 
charged  with  having  in  his  possession  a  book  in 
English  containing  the  Lord's  Prayer,  the  Creed,  and 
Hail  Mary.  Margaret  Backster  was  charged  with 
cooking  bacon  in  Lent  and  with  denying  the  efficacy 
of  crucifix-worship.  The  spirit  of  the  Crusades  was 
in  the  air,  and  the  cross  was  on  every  breast ;  while 
as  if  to  emphasise  the  efficacy  of  the  holy  symbol  the 
following  addition  to  the  bidding  prayer  before  sermon 
was  regularly  used  :  "  Ye  shall  pray  for  the  Holy  Land 
and  for  the  Holy  Cross  that  Jesus  Christ  died  upon, 
for  the  redemption  of  men's  souls,  that  it  may  come 
into  the  power  of  Christian  men  to  be  honoured  by 
our  prayers." 

The  possession  of  heretical  books  was  a  punishable 
offence.  Nicholas  Belward  bought  in  London  a  New 
Testament  for  which  he  paid  £2,  16s.  8d.  (about  £20 
to-day),  and  was  charged  with  heresy.     The  registers  of 


LOLLARDISM  IN  ENGLAND  225 

Norwich  are  full  of  similar  cases  at  this  period,  and  in 
Wilkins'  Concilia  the  form  of  many  of  these  accusa- 
tions is  preserved,  the  "  mad  opinions  "  of  the  sectaries 
being  often  referred  to.  But  while  isolated  cases  of 
persecution  ^were  to  be  met  with  all  over  England 
during  the  first  quarter  of  the  fifteenth  century,  it  was 
not  really  until  1428  that  the  most  vigorous  attack 
came.  Wycliffe  died  peacefully  in  1384,  and  was 
buried  in  the  chancel  of  Lutterworth  Church.  '  In  1415 
the  Council  of  Constance  passed  a  decree  condemning 
forty-five  articles  of  Wycliffism,  and  ordered  that  as  an 
obstinate  heretic  his  bones  should  be  dug  up,  burned, 
and  thrown  upon  a  dunghill ;  much  in  the  same  manner 
as  the  Portuguese  sailors  castigate  the  effigy  of  Judas 
Iscariot  on  Good  Friday,  or  as  a  little  child  beats 
the  chair  or  table  which  has  given  it  hurt  and  annoy- 
ance. <  Year  after  year  passed,  and  this  childish  decree 
was  never  carried  out.  In  1428,  however,  acting 
evidently  on  local  knowledge,  the  Pope,  Clement  vin., 
gave  orders  that  this  decree  should  be  executed,  probably 
as  a  warning  to  England  and  Bohemia,  which  had  also 
through  royal  relationship  become  impregnated  wTith 
Lollard  ideas.  Fleming  was  then  Bishop  of  Lincoln, 
and  at  Lutterworth  his  officers  saw  Wycliffe's  ashes 
unearthed  and  thrown  into  the  Swift  close  by,  and 
thence  carried,  according  to  the  almost  proverbial 
expression,  into  the  river  and  the  sea  and  the  ocean, 
and  so  round  the  world — like  Wycliffe's  doctrines. 

Not  content,  however,  with  dishonouring  the  bones 

of  the  founder  of  the  Lollards,  Bishop  Fleming  took 

active  measures  in  counteracting  the  Lollard  teaching, 

in   1426  founded  Lincoln  College  in  Oxford,  with 

a  view  of  training  men   specially   to  counteract  the 

'5 


226     WYCLIFFE  AND  THE   LOLLARDS 

Wycliffe  teachings.  Fleming  was  born  at  Crof ton  near 
Wakefield  in  Yorkshire,  and  matriculated  at  University 
College.  At  first  he  zealously  espoused  the  Wycliffe 
doctrines,  but  subsequently  revoked,  and  became  as 
zealous  and  more  so  in  the  other  direction.  To  dispel 
the  "pernicious  doctrines  "of  Wycliffe  was  the  object 
of  his  foundation  at  Oxford — "The  College  of  the 
Blessed  Virgin  and  of  All  Saints  in  the  University  of 
Oxford."  It  was  a  poor  institution  to  begin  with, — 
a  rector  and  seven  fellows,  but  became  wealthy  and 
vigorous,  holding  several  rectories  in  Oxfordshire  and 
Buckinghamshire.  In  later  years  Lincoln  College  was 
the  alma  mater  of  Bishop  Sanderson  (1660),  who  mainly 
wrote  the  prefaces  to  the  English  Prayer-Book;  of 
Nathaniel  Lord  Crewe,  bishop  of  Oxford,  the  princely 
prelate  of  Bamburgh  Castle ;  of  Fuller  the  Church 
historian,  John  Wesley  the  founder  of  Methodism, 
Hervey  of  the  Meditation  amongst  the  Tombs,  Brett 
and  Kilbye  the  Bible  translators,  Tindal  the  deist, 
Mark  Pattison  of  the  Essays  and  Reviews,  and  Bishop 
Fraser,  the  many-sided  prelate  of  Manchester.  The 
library  includes  a  copy  of  Wycliffe's  Bible  in  MS. 
Several  Lollards,  according  to  Froude,  were  imprisoned 
in  the  Treasury ;  while  Thomas  Garrett  of  Magdalene, 
an  early  Reformer  in  Oxford,  escaped  from  the  rector's 
lodgings  while  the  rector  was  at  service  in  the  chapel  J 
Bishop  Fleming,  who  caused  Wycliffe's  ashes  to  be  thus 
burned  and  dispersed,  acted  as  the  Pope's  direct  agent ; 
and  the  action  was  intended  as  a  lesson  not  to  England 
only,  but  to  the  Continent  as  well.  The  Lollard 
doctrines  were  vigorous  in  Bohemia,  mainly  through 
the  fact  of  Queen  Anne,  the  wife  of  Richard  n.  of 
England,  having  been  a  sister  of  the  King  of  Bohemia, 


LOLLARDISM   IN  ENGLAND  227 

and  a  zealous  follower  of  Wycliffe.  She  eagerly  read 
Wycliffe's  Bible  and  works  in  English,  encouraged 
students  from  Bohemia  to  come  to  Oxford  for  instruc- 
tion and  spiritual  light  and  guidance,  and  thus 
Lollard  ism  was  brought  to  Bohemia,  where  it 
flourished  so  vigorously  that  the  Church  took  alarm, 
and  thought  it  necessary  to  make  a  public  exhibition 
of  its  abhorrence  of  the  Wycliffe  doctrines  by  scatter- 
ing Wycliffe's  ashes.  The  same  Council  of  Constance 
which  gave  the  order  to  do  this,  also  withdrew  the 
cup  from  the  laity  in  the  sacrament  of  the  Supper, 
and  condemned  John  Huss  and  Jerome  of  Prague,  the 
Bohemian  representatives  of  Lollardism,  to  the  flames. 
In  1428  the  Bishop  of  Winchester,  Henry  of  Beaufort, 
a  legitimised  son  of  the  famous  John  of  Gaunt,  who 
was  therefore  grand-uncle  to  the  child  King,  was 
created  a  cardinal  by  the  Pope,  and  solemnly  ordered 
to  institute  a  crusade  against  the  Lollards  in  Bohemia. 
The  Lollards  were  strong  in  that  country,  so  strong, 
indeed,  that  the  papal  nuncio  referred,  in  his  charge  to 
the  English  bishops,  to  the  "  oppression  of  the  orthodox 
by  the  heretics"  there.  The  crusade  turned  out  a 
fiasco,  as  did  some  of  the  other  crusades  of  that  decadent 
crusading  age.  The  great  inspiration  of  the  original 
Crusades  (1095-1270)  was  away  and  gone,  but  the 
ecclesiastical  powers  were  still  using  the  name  and  the 
idea  for  their  own  ends,  and  hoped  for  a  recrudescence 
of  the  old  enthusiasm,  but  in  vain.  When  after  years 
of  hesitation  the  bones  of  Wycliffe  were  burned  and 
scattered  on  the  Swift,  the  ecclesiastical  powers  felt 
that  their  hour  had  conic,  and  the  Archbishop  of 
terbury  at  a  meeting  of  the  Provincial  Convocation 
ordered    strong    measuree  to  be  taken    against  the 


228     WYCLIFFE  AND  THE  LOLLARDS 

Lollards,  who  were  daily  growing  in  numbers  and 
influence.  A  fresh  attack  was  therefore  made  upon 
the  reforming  sect,  and  many  were  imprisoned  and 
burned.  '  In  1431,  however,  the  English  King  had 
severe  reverses  in  France, — the  year  in  which  Joan  of 
Arc  was  put  to  death:  the  throne  was  weakly  held, 
and  the  struggle  between  York  and  Lancaster  became 
acute.  The  Lollard  persecution  practically  ceased, 
though  the  influence  was  still  living,  active,  and 
vigorous.  >  It  was  a  wonderful  age  for  dissension  and 
unrest:  Popes  and  general  councils  were  at  variance, 
and  both  politically  and  religiously  Europe  was  in  the 
throes  of  revolution.  Still  every  now  and  then  in  the 
story  of  these  troubled  years  there  appears  some 
earnest,  obscure  Lollard  who  continues  the  testimony 
that  Scripture  is  the  final  court  of  appeal,  and  that  the 
preaching  of  the  gospel  is  the  principal  duty  of  the 
Church. 

Not  until  the  year  1457  does  Lollardism  reappear 
associated  with  any  but  humble,  obscure,  and  unknown 
men.  In  that  year,  however,  a  sensation  was  caused  in 
England  by  the  open  advocacy  of  reforming  views  by 
the  Bishop  of  Chichester,  Reynold  Pecock,  who  suffered 
imprisonment  for  the  position  he  took  up.  He  was  not 
a  thoroughgoing  Lollard,  and  in  some  respects,  indeed, 
opposed  their  teachings.  But  he  would  have  no 
persecution  of  them,  and  openly  approved  of  the 
reading  of  the  Bible,  though  not  in  English,  besides 
opposing  heartily  the  papal  usurpations  of  the  time. 
His  citation  declared  that  he  "  held  conclusions  contrary 
to  the  true  faith,"  and  that  he  had  at  St.  Paul's  Cross 
openly  preached  that  "  the  office  of  a  Christian  prelate, 
above  all  things,  is  to  preach  the  Word  of  God :  that 


LOLLARDISM   IN  ENGLAND  229 

man's  reason  is  not  to  be  preferred  before  the  Scriptures, 
and  that  Scripture  is  only  to  be  taken  in  its  proper 
sense."  Archbishop  Burscher,  who  was  now  Primate  of 
Canterbury,  examined  him,  and  induced  him  to  recant. 
The  fear  of  a  fiery  death  seems  to  have  shaken  him, 
for  he  confessed  that  he  had  promulgated  false 
doctrines,  though  it  would  seem  that  he  never 
thoroughly  relinquished  his  opinions.  He  was 
deprived  of  his  bishopric,  imprisoned  at  Thorney 
Abbey  for  the  rest  of  his  life,  and,  it  is  declared  by 
some,  at  last  was  done  to  death.  His  prayer  for  the 
Church  of  Christ  has  been  preserved :  "  0  thou  Lord 
Jesu,  God  and  man,  Head  of  Thy  Christian  Church 
and  teacher  of  Christian  belief,  I  beseech  Thy  mercy, 
Thy  pity,  Thy  charity.  Far  be  this  peril  [belief  in  the 
infallibility  of  the  Pope]  from  the  Christian  Church 
and  from  each  person  therein  contained.  And  shield 
Thou  so  that  this  venom  be  never  brought  into  Thy 
Church ;  and  if  Thou  suffer  it  to  be  brought  in  for  any 
while,  I  beseech  Thee  that  it  be  soon  again  cast  out. 
But  suffer  Thou,  ordain  and  do,  that  the  law  and  faith 
which  Thy  Church  at  any  time  keepeth,  be  brought 
under  examination  whether  it  be  the  very  same  faith 
which  Thou  and  Thine  apostles  taught  or  no,  and 
whether  it  hath  sufficient  evidences  to  prove  whether 
it  is  the  real  faith  or  not."  Thus  from  beneath  the 
shadow  of  the  cathedral  of  Chichester,  with  its  tall 
and  graceful  spire,  —  the  finest  almost  in  England,  and 
surrounded  by  the  lofty  elm  trees  which  are  still  a 
feature  of  the  interesting  old  Sussex  cathedral  city, 
came  an  unlooked-for  but  stiking  testimony  to 
ptural  and  apostolical  doctrine.  The  two  names 
t  intimately  associated  with  the  city  are  of  Collins 


230     WYCLIFFE  AND  THE  LOLLARDS 

the  ill-starred  poet,  who  was  born  and  died  in  Chichester, 
and  of  Reginald  Pecock,  who  centuries  before  dared  to 
think  and  speak  for  himself. 

In  1466  Neville,  archbishop  of  York,  decreed  several 
canons,  in  which  he  required  every  parish  priest  to  preach 
four  times  every  year,  either  personally  or  by  substitute, 
to  the  parishioners,  and  to  explain  to  them  "  without 
any  fantastical  subtilties,"  the  fourteen  articles  of  faith 
of  the  Roman  Church,  the  Ten  Commandments,  the  two 
precepts  of  the  gospel,  the  seven  works  of  mercy,  the 
seven  deadly  sins,  the  seven  cardinal  virtues,  and  the 
seven  sacraments.  It  would  have  required  the  brevity 
of  a  Dean  Swift  on  a  proverbial  occasion  to  have  con- 
densed so  much  matter  into  four  village  sermons.  The 
archbishop  provided,  however,  brief  commentaries  on 
these  subjects ;  and  it  is  remarkable  that  in  the  homily 
on  the  Ten  Commandments  the  second  is  omitted,  while 
the  tenth  is  divided  into  two.  The  fifth  is  interpreted 
as  referring  mainly  to  obedience  to  the  bishop  of  the 
diocese  and  Holy  Mother  Church.  The  first  half  of  the 
tenth  commandment  forbids  coveting  our  neighbour's 
immoveable  property,  while  the  second  half  refers  to 
moveables.  The  same  rearrangement  of  the  precepts 
of  Sinai  is  adopted  in  present-day  Roman  catechisms 
and  manuals. 

t  Edward  IV.  was  now  on  the  English  throne  (1461-83), 
and  found  it  a  most  uncomfortable  seat.  The  civil 
wars  between  the  houses  of  York  and  Lancaster  brought 
their  horrors  and  distresses,  but  these  very  civil 
upheavals  seem  to  have  diverted  the  Church's  mind 
from  the  Lollard  hunt.  To  ingratiate  himself  with  the 
clergy,  Edward  passed  a  statute  which  made  them 
almost  independent  of  the  civilgovernment,  by  abolish- 


LOLLARDISM   IN   ENGLAND  231 

ing  the  "statute  of  premunive"  which  had  checked 
Rome's  temporal  authority  in  England,  and  which, 
though  Popes  had  striven  to  have  it  abrogated,  was 
still  sanctioned  by  the  House  of  Commons.  This 
charter  of  King  Edward's  made  it  impossible  for 
ecclesiastics  to  be  prosecuted  by  the  civil  power,  and 
the  direct  result  was  that  many  laymen  on  being 
charged  with  criminal  offences  took  ecclesiastical  orders 
after  the  charge  had  been  made,  and  thus  escaped  civil 
punishment. 

c  The  strife  around  the  throne,  however,  served  the 
Lollards  a  good  purpose,  giving  them  to  some  extent 
a  shelter  in  the  storm  and  a  lull  in  their  persecutions. 
In  1473,  however,  John  Goose  suffered  on  Tower  Hill. 
The  sheriff,  Robert  Belisdon,  strove  beforehand  to  turn 
him  from  his  beliefs,  but  to  no  purpose ;  and  as  a  closing 
scene  in  the  tragedy,  Goose  asked  if  as  a  last  favour 
he  might  before  his  execution  be  supplied  with  a  good 
niciil,  as  he  was  hungry.  The  same  almost  humorous 
request  was  made  by  James  Guthrie,  the  Covenanter, 
the  night  before  his  execution  in  Edinburgh,  when  he 
"  called  for  cheese," — an  article  of  diet  which  under 
ordinary  circumstances,  owing  to  his  delicate  digestion, 
he  could  never  venture  upon,  but  of  which  he  partook 
heartily  on  this  occasion,  knowing  that  he  could  not 
suffer  from  his  chronic  dyspepsia  on  the  morn.  So 
Goose  had  his  last  supper,  saying,  "  I  eat  now  a  good 
and  sufficient  dinner,  as  I  have  a  sharp  but  short 
shower  to  pass  through  after  supper."  After  he  had 
dined  he  gave  thanks,  and  passed  out  to  his  death. 

The  Tudor  Henry  vn.  ascended  the  throne  in  1485 
and  reigned  until  1509.  Several  Lollard  martyrdoms 
appear  on  the  roll-call  of  his  reign,  notably  the  first 


232     WYCLIFFE  AND  THE  LOLLARDS 

female  martyr  ever  put  to  death  by  burning  in 
England, — an  aged  woman  of  over  eighty  years 
named  Joan  Boughton,  mother  of  Lady  Young,  who 
also  suffered  for  her  Lollardism.  *  She  was  urged  by 
severe  examination  and  threats  of  burning  to  recant, 
but  declined,  and  was  accordingly  burned.  Others, 
notably  an  aged  Lollard,  met  the  same  fate  about  this 
time.  'But  the  most  barbarous  case  was  that  of 
William  Tylsworth,  who,  charged  with  heresy,  was 
burned  at  Amersham  in  Buckinghamshire  in  1506. 
His  only  daughter,  Joan  Clerk,  was  compelled  to  light 
her  father's  funeral  pyre,  and  her  husband  along  with 
some  sixty  other  sympathisers  had  to  do  penance,  some 
being  branded  on  the  cheek,  others  flogged  or 
imprisoned.  Following  up  this  auto-da-fd,  the  follow- 
ing day  at  Buckingham  a  plain  miller,  Roberts  of 
Missenden,  was  burned,  while  twelve  people  had  to  carry 
faggots  and  do  penance  at  the  same  time.  Amongst 
others  who  suffered  at  this  period  was  Father  Rogers, 
who  was  imprisoned  for  fourteen  weeks  in  the  bishop's 
prison,11  and  emerged  from  his  confinement  so  much 
crippled  with  the  irons  and  with  cold  and  hunger  that 
his  back  was  actually  bent.  He  and  others  were  then 
branded. 

Fox,  Strype,  Fuller,  and  other  chroniclers  of  the 
period  tell  their  story  consistently  and  clearly,  and  the 
first  of  these  had  his  information  in  many  cases  direct 
from  eye-witnesses.  c  Thomas  Chase  of  Amersham  was 
strangled  in  jail  after  severe  tortures.  It  was  given 
out  that  he  had  hanged  himself  in  prison,  and  he  was 
buried  in  Norland  wood,  between  Woburn  and  Little 
Marlow ;  but  a  woman  heard  his  voice  calling  upon  God 
to  receive  his  spirit  as  he  was  being  done  to  death. 


LOLLARDISM   IN  ENGLAND  233 

Laurence  Ghest  was  another  who  suffered  about 
this  time  at  Salisbury  for  denying  transubstantiation ; 
and  while  at  the  stake  his  wife  and  children  were 
brought  to  see  him,  but  he  remained  unmoved,  and 
endured  to  the  end  This  was  the  very  age  in  which 
Columbus  was  opening  up  the  vision  of  the  New 
World :  the  Old  World  was  engaged  in  closing  up  the 
vision  of  liberty  and  light  of  which  Wycliffe  and 
his  followers  had  caught  a  glimpse.  Vasco  di  Gama 
was  piercing  his  way  into  new  seas  and  fresh  countries, 
but  the  spiritual  and  intellectual  pioneers  of  Europe 
were  checked  in  their  presumptuous  endeavours  after 
a  wider  life  and  understanding. 

Proud  of  its  success  in  quelling  rebellion,  the  Church 
even  went  further  in  its  claims  and  contentions.  The 
system  of  Indulgences  became  popular.  To  build  St. 
Peter's  the  system  was  so  boldly  practised  that  at 
last  the  Reformation  broke  out.  St.  Peter's  is  the 
monument  of  Michelangelo's  genius,  and  the  great 
starting-point  of  liberalised  thought.  Tetzel  was  the 
cause  of  Luther.  The  pure  spirituality  of  men  like 
Albert  Diirer,  Raphael,  Leonardo  da  Vinci,  and 
Michelangelo  —  the  artistic  lights  of  the  Renaissance, 
was  overshadowed  by  the  greedy  deceit  of  ecclesiastical 
schemers,  who  scrupled  at  no  device  to  raise  the  wind 
when  money  was  necessary.  Religion  was  made  a 
stalking-horse  to  policy,  and,  as  Sir  Walter  Scott  says, 
a  trading  copartnery  was  formed  to  do  the  devil's 
business  without  mentioning  his  name  in  the  firm. 
And  yet  in  the  very  St.  Peter's  at  Rome,  for  the 
building  of  which  Indulgences  were  so  ostentatiously 
used,  contains  a  fine  representation  of  a  woman — 
probably    one    of    Michelangelo's    efforts  —  evidently 


234     WYCLIFFE  AND  THE  LOLLARDS 

rising  from  the  dead,  with  the  graveclothes  loosely 
dropping  from  her  body,  and  with  her  hands  she  is 
endeavouring  to  remove  the  swathing  -  bands  from 
her  eyes  that  she  may  see  the  great  vision  of  a  new 
life.  It  seems  to  be  a  picture  of  the  age  struggling 
with  death-bands  to  behold  the  new  light.  A  similar 
idea  is  embodied  in  the  monument  to  Dr.  Donne,  the 
Dean  of  St.  Paul's,  poet  and  thinker — one  of  the  few 
monuments  preserved  from  Old  St.  Paul's  after  the 
fire,  along  with  the  sculptured  stone  on  which  is 
inscribed  the  word  "  resurgam,"  which  was  interpreted 
as  a  prophecy  of  the  rebuilding  of  the  minster,  but 
was  also  a  prediction  of  a  future  age  of  enlightenment 
and  inspiration.  The  figure  of  the  poet-dean  is 
represented  risen  out  of  the  funeral  urn,  and  the 
death-bands  are  slackened  round  the  head,  and  the 
awakened  eyes  are  turned  towards  the  east  and 
the  "  light  that  shone  when  hope  was  born." 

The  system  of  Indulgences,  which  was  the  direct 
occasion  of  Luther's  rebellion  against  the  Holy  See, 
spread  to  England,  and  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury 
received  power  from  the  Pope  to  dispense  them. 
About  the  middle  of  Henry  vn.'s  reign  the  bridge  of 
Rochester  was  out  of  repair,  and  there  were  difficulties 
in  the  way  of  getting  anyone  to  undertake  the 
responsibility  of  putting  it  right,  and  the  Bishop  of 
Rochester  was  thus  inconvenienced  in  his  journeys 
from  Canterbury  to  London.  Accordingly  an  In- 
dulgence was  issued,  granting  release  from  purgatory 
for  forty  days  to  every  one  who  would  render  assist- 
ance, and  so  the  bridge  was  speedily  completed. 

The  mechanicalism  and  ceremonialism  of  the  Church 
in  the  early  years   of  the  sixteenth  century  stiffened 


LOLLARDISM   IN  ENGLAND  235 

more  and  more.  Not  Indulgences  only,  but  the  with- 
drawal of  the  cup  from  the  laity,  the  introduction  of 
new  festivals,  pilgrimages,  confessionals,  images,  and 
the  like,  became  pronounced  features  of  a  mechanical 
age.  The  Archbishop  of  York,  George  Neville, 
enumerated  thirty-seven  sins  which  only  a  bishop  or 
a  Pope  could  pardon,  and  the  greatest  of  these  was 
heresy.  The  introduction  of  printing  helped  the 
reforming  cause,  and  the  Church  for  long  banned  the 
Press. 

*"  In  1509  Henry  vm.  became  King;  and  though 
during  his  reign  England  at  last  threw  off  allegiance 
to  the  Holy  See,  the  early  part  of  his  reign  was 
characterised  by  many  acts  of  persecution  against 
Lollards  and  other  like-minded  people.  In  the  registry 
of  Archbishop  Warham  there  are  many  such  records. 
On  2nd  May  1511  eight  men  and  four  women,  chiefly 
inhabitants  of  Tenterden,  were  summoned  before  the 
archbishop  and  accused  of  denying  transubstantiation, 
confession,  priestly  power,  and  other  current  beliefs, 
such  as  pilgrimages,  image-worship,  prayers  to  saints, 
extreme  unction,  and  the  like.  They  were  made  to 
abjure  their  doctrines,  and  to  carry  a  faggot  on  their 
shoulders  in  processions  in  Canterbury  Cathedral  and 
in  their  own  parish  churches,  to  show  they  acknow- 
ledged that  they  deserved  death  by  burning.  During 
that  summer  the  archbishop  sat  at  Lambeth  Palace 
many  times,  trying  others  who  were  similarly  charged 
and  similarly  punished. 

William  Carder  of  Tenterden,  on  the  29th  of  April 
1511,  was  charged  with  Lollard  heresy,  and  said  he 
was  willing  to  retract  all  he  had  said  except  that 
"  it  was  enough  to  pray  to  Almighty  God  alone,  and 


236    WYCLIFFE  AND  THE  LOLLARDS 

that  we  do  not  need  to  pray  to  the  saints."  Agnes 
Grevill,  Robert  Harrison,  John  Brown,  and  Edward 
Walker  were  also  condemned  on  the  2nd  and  19th 
of  May. 

The  John  Brown  referred  to  got  into  trouble  first 
of  all  by  questioning  the  power  of  a  priest,  who  had 
journeyed  with  him  on  board  a  barge  on  the  Thames, 
to  deliver  a  soul  from  purgatory.  He  was  informed 
against  by  the  priest,  and  brought  before  Archbishop 
Warham.  He  was  taken  to  Canterbury  and  kept 
in  prison  for  forty  days.  The  archbishop  and  Fisher, 
bishop  of  Rochester,  had  him  tortured,  his  bare  feet 
being  set  upon  burning  coals.  On  the  Friday  before 
Whitsunday  1517  he  was  sent  to  his  native  town  of 
Ashford  to  be  burned.  His  wife  and  children  were 
present,  and  at  the  stake  he  exhorted  them  to  be 
faithful,  constant,  and  true ;  and  so  commending  himself 
to  God,  he  passed  away. 

Agnes  Grevill  or  Grebil  was  cited  before  Archbishop 
Warham,  and  her  own  husband  and  children,  who  had 
abjured  the  Lollard  views,  were  brought  as  witnesses 
against  her.  Her  husband  stated  that  his  wife  became 
a  Lollard  in  the  reign  of  Edward  IV.  through  the 
influence  of  John  Ive,  and  added  that  he  had  also 
instructed  his  sons  in  the  same  beliefs.  These  two 
sons,  aged  nineteen  and  twenty-two,  gave  evidence 
against  their  mother ;  and  the  mother,  destitute  of  all 
friends,  burst  out  with  the  exclamation  that  she 
deeply  "regretted  the  time  that  ever  she  bare  these 
children."  The  archbishop  "  having  called  upon  the 
name  of  Christ,  and  having  God  alone  before  his 
eyes,"  delivered  both  father  and  mother  over  to  the 
secular  power  to  be  dealt  with  as  heretics, 


LOLLARDISM  IN  ENGLAND  237 

Dean  Colet,  who  founded  St.  Paul's  School  in 
London,  narrowly  escaped  destruction  about  this  time 
for  his  partial  sympathy  with  Lollardism.  The  Bishop 
of  London,  Fitzjames,  accused  him  of  heresy  to 
Archbishop  Warham,  one  head  of  the  charge  being 
that  he  had  translated  the  Paternoster  into  English. 
Warham,  however,  valued  Colet  for  his  personal 
character,  gifts,  and  learning,  and  stayed  the  pro- 
ceedings against  him.  Colet  was  a  remarkable  man ; 
he  was  the  eldest  son  of  Sir  Henry  Colet,  who  had 
been  twice  Lord  Mayor,  and  having  been  educated  at 
Magdalen  College,  Oxford,  he  travelled  to  France  and 
Italy  and  met  Erasmus,  Budaeus,  and  other  scholars, 
and  from  them  obtained  an  enthusiasm  not  only  for 
Greek,  which  was  then  little  known  in  England,  but 
for  intellectual  and  spiritual  independence.  Returning 
to  England,  he  read  lectures  in  Oxford  on  St.  Paul's 
Epistles.  He  possessed  a  large  estate,  and  being 
without  near  relatives,  he  devoted  his  wealth  to  found 
St.  Paul's  School  in  London,  making  the  Company  of 
Mercers  trustees,  and  the  learned  Lilly  the  first  Master 
in  1512.  At  the  age  of  fifty-three  Dr.  Colet  died, 
and  was  buried  in  the  choir  of  Old  St.  Paul's,  of 
which  he  was  first  canon  and  then  dean,  besides 
being  chaplain  and  preacher-in-ordinary  to  Henry  viii. 
He  wrote  a  book  on  grammar,  besides  works  on  prayer, 
"  daily  devotions,"  and  letters  to  Erasmus,  all  of  which 
show  him  to  have  been  a  learned,  devout,  and  spiritually- 
minded  ecclesiastic. 

The  registers  of  Fitzjames  contain  particulars  of  the 
accusations  brought  against  several  persons  between 
9  and  1517  charged  with  heresy, — chiefly  for  deny- 
ing mm  mi  Instantiation.     Joan   Baker  was  accused   of 


238     WYCLIFFE  AND  THE  LOLLARDS 

denying  the  efficacy  of  a  crucifix  herself,  and  of 
urging  a  dying  friend  not  to  trust  in  that  symbol, 
but  only  in  God.  Other  five  were  accused  of  reading 
heretical  books,  chiefly  English  versions  of  the  Evan- 
gelists. William  Sweeting  and  John  Brewster  were 
other  two  notable  Lollards  who  had  formerly  abjured, 
and  on  doing  penance  were  pardoned.  They  returned, 
however,  to  the  Wycliffe  views,  and  were  condemned 
and  burned.  One  accusation  against  them  was  that 
they  had  left  off  wearing  the  faggot -badge  which 
was  enjoined  on  all  who  had  been  accused  of  heresy, 
— a  kind  of  Cain-mark  or  broad  arrow  which  would 
ensure  subsequent  identification.  Sweeting  had  left 
off"  his,  because,  searching  for  a  livelihood  which  he 
could  not  obtain  at  home,  he  had  wandered  to 
Colchester  and  been  engaged  as  holy-water  clerk  by 
the  priest  of  St.  Mary  Magdalene,  who  insisted  on 
him  leaving  off  the  badge  of  heresy ;  while  Brewster 
had  left  off  his,  because  the  Earl  of  Oxford,  who 
employed  him  as  a  servant,  would  not  suffer  him  to 
wear  it.  Badge  or  no  badge,  at  any  rate,  these 
Lollards  were  hopelessly  driven  to  their  fate;  and 
though  it  is  said  they  recanted  and  were  pardoned, 
all  the  weight  of  evidence  goes  to  prove  that  they 
met  their  doom  at  the  stake. 

The  beginning  of  the  sixteenth  century  was  a  time 
of  transition.  Disputes  between  the  Franciscans  and 
Dominicans  as  to  the  Virgin  Mary  were  rife,  more 
especially  as  to  her  immaculate  conception,  and, 
finally,  the  Holy  See  has  decreed  the  doctrine  of  the 
immaculate  conception  of  the  Virgin,  a  decree  glorified 
in  the  Church  of  St.  Maria  Maggiore  in  Rome.  A 
more  practical  question,  however,  arose  regarding  the 


LOLLARDISM   IN   ENGLAND  239 

immunity  of  ecclesiastical  persons  from  punishment 
when  convicted  of  crime.  In  1512  an  Act  of  Parliament 
was  passed,  which,  while  it  exempted  bishops,  priests, 
and  deacons  from  the  power  of  the  civil  courts,  even 
in  cases  of  murder  and  robbery,  subjected  inferior 
clergy  to  the  civil  law.  All  the  pulpits  of  England 
were  up  in  arms  against  the  decree.  The  Abbot  of 
Winchelcomb  declared  that  all  persons  who  assented 
to  the  decree  were  heretics.  Parliament  protested 
and  appealed  to  the  King.  The  abbot  was  opposed 
before  the  King  by  Dr.  Standish,  a  friar,  and  one  of 
the  King's  spiritual  counsel,  who  urged  that  ecclesiastics 
should  be  subject  to  civil  punishment  for  crimes.  The 
abbot  was  supported  by  the  bishops,  who  declared 
that  he  advanced  their  own  opinion  and  that  of  the 
Church. 

Another  circumstance  arose  about  this  time  which 
caused  friction  between  the  clergy  and  the  laity.  A 
merchant  tailor  in  London,  Richard  Hunne,  had  a 
child  at  nurse  at  Whitechapel  which  died  at  the  age 
of  five  weeks.  The  priest  claimed  a  mortuary  or  fee 
from  the  father,  which  the  father  refused.  Thereupon 
the  priest  sued  the  father  before  the  legate's  court, 
and  the  father  sued  the  priest,  resting  on  the  old 
statute  which  rendered  him  liable  to  punishment  for 
citing  anyone  before  a  foreign  court.  To  prevent 
Hunne  from  prosecuting  the  priest,  he  was  charged 
of  heresy  by  the  Bishop  of  London,  and  accused  on 
2nd  December  1514,  at  the  instance  of  Dr.  Horsey, 
the  bishop's  chancellor,  with  heresy,  namely — (1)  that 
he  objected  to  paying  tithes ;  (2)  that  he  said  bishops 
and  priests  arc  like  the  Pharisees  who  condemns  I 
t  to  death;  and  (3)  that  bishops  and  clergy  were 


240    WYCLIFFE  AND  THE  LOLLARDS 

teachers  but  not  doers  of  Christ's  law:  also  that  he 
had  in  his  possession  Wycliffe's  Epistles,  Gospels,  and 
works.  He  was  condemned  for  heresy  and  committed 
to  the  Lollards'  Tower.  On  4th  December  a  boy 
carrying  him  provisions  found  him  dead,  hanging  by 
a  silk  girdle.  It  was  given  out  by  the  Church  that 
he  had  hanged  himself;  but  investigation  followed, 
and  it  was  proved  that  Hunne's  neck  had  been  broken 
by  an  iron  chain,  and  that  he  had  been  otherwise 
ill-treated  in  such  wise  as  he  could  not  have  done 
himself. 

The  bishop  and  clergy  determined  to  carry  the 
matter  through  with  a  high  hand.  Though  dead, 
Hunne  was  condemned  for  heresy — "  Hunne  defendeth 
the  translation  of  the  Bible  and  the  Holy  Scripture 
into  the  English  tongue,  which  is  prohibited  by  the 
laws  of  our  Mother  Holy  Church."  These  articles 
were  read  at  St.  Paul's  Cross  on  the  Sunday  after, 
and  on  16th  December  the  bishops  and  clergy 
summoned  all  who  wished  to  defend  Hunne  or  his 
opinions  to  appear.  No  one  came,  and  sentence  was 
pronounced  against  his  dead  body, — evidently  reflecting 
the  procedure  with  Wycliffe, — and  he  was  committed 
to  the  secular  power  to  be  burned  for  heresy  on  the 
20th  December  1514.  He  was  burned  in  presence  of 
the  people,  who  had  "great  grief  and  disdain,"  and 
the  result  was  a  warm  feeling  of  indignation  against 
the  Church. 

A  strict  inquest  was  held  into  the  whole  matter 
before  the  King  and  Privy  Councillors,  and  it  was 
judged  that  Dr.  Horsey  the  chancellor,  and  Charles 
the  sumner,  and  Spalding  the  bell-ringer,  were  guilty 
of  murder.     It  is  said  that  before  Hunne's  death  the 


LOLLARDISM   IN   ENGLAND  241 

chancellor  came  to  the  Lollards'  Tower  and  begged 
God's  pardon  for  his  action.  On  5th  February  1515, 
Parliament  met  and  ordered  that  Hunne's  property, 
which,  as  he  was  a  heretic,  had  been  confiscated, 
should  be  given  to  his  children,  and  this  was  done  to 
the  amount  of  £1500.  On  3rd  April  the  House  of 
Commons  demanded  that  his  murderers  should  be 
brought  to  justice ;  but  the  Bill  was  thrown  out  through 
strong  clerical  iufluence,  the  Bishop  of  London  violently 
declaring  that  Hunne  had  made  away  with  himself, 
that  the  coroner  and  jury  had  been  poisoned,  and  that 
if  the  Bill  were  passed,  he  himself  would  not  be  safe. 
The  prosecution  was  continued  and  driven  home 
against  Dr.  Standish,  who  claimed  the  King's  pro- 
tection. Henry  vili.  in  his  perplexity  summoned 
Dr.  Veysey,  the  Dean  of  the  Chapel  Royal,  and  he 
declared  that  he  thought  Standish  was  right.  Much 
debate  was  held  in  Council,  Parliament,  and  Convoca- 
tion, and  at  last  it  was  arranged  that  the  archbishop 
should  surrender  Horsey,  who  was  in  hiding  at  Lambeth, 
who  on  being  submitted  to  trial  was  to  declare  himself 
not  guilty,  and  be  dismissed  without  a  trial.  This  was 
done,  and  thus  Horsey  escaped,  the  King's  authority 
was  asserted,  while  the  mass  of  the  people  were  dis- 
satisfied. Horsey,  afraid  of  the  popular  tumult,  retired 
to  Exeter,  London  being  too  dangerous  a  residence  for 
him.  Many  of  the  documents  referring  to  this  moment- 
ous trial — momentous  in  the  sense  that  it  settled  the 
question  whether  the  clergy  were  subject  to  civil 
jurisdiction  in  criminal  cases — were  destroyed  in  the 
Great  Fire,  but  as  many  of  them  escaped  that  ordeal 
as  to  prove  that  this  murder  was  not  what  has  been 
designated  "  The  Legend  of  Hunne." 
16 


242     WYCLIFFE  AND  THE  LOLLARDS 

The  hour  of  the  German  Reformation  had  now  come, 
and  Luther's  writings  were  circulated  all  over  Europe, 
many  of  them  being  translated  into  English.  Between 
the  doctrines  of  Luther  and  those  of  Wycliffe  there  is 
a  narrow  boundary.  To  all  intents  and  purposes  both 
are  the  rebellion  of  the  spirit  and  soul  against  mechani- 
calism  and  superstition.  The  succession  of  the  Lollards 
in  England  still  remained,  as  is  proved  by  the  registers 
of  Fitzjames,  which  are  full  of  confessions,  convictions, 
abjurations,  and  restitutions. 

Elizabeth  Stamford  had  been  taught  by  Beel,  resid- 
ing at  Henley,  the  doctrine  of  the  spiritual  reception 
of  Christ  in  the  sacrament  —  the  same  as  laid  down 
by  John  Craig,  Knox's  colleague  in  his  Catechism, 
"  This  is  not  received  by  chewing  of  teeth,  but  by 
hearing  of  ears,  and  understanding  with  your  soul,  and 
wisely  working  thereafter."  Beel  taught  her  that 
"  confession  to  a  priest  was  of  no  avail,  and  that  papal 
pardons  and  Indulgences  were  worth  nothing." 
(  Between  1517  and  1520  many  persons  were  cited 
before  the  bishops  for  heresy.  J  John  Stillman  was 
examined  by  the  Bishop  of  Salisbury,  and  it  was  dis- 
covered that  he  had  not  given  up  some  Wycliffe  writ- 
ings which  at  his  former  examination  had  been  found 
in  his  possession,  but  had  concealed  them  in  an  old 
oak  tree,  and  brought  them  subsequently  to  London. 
He  was  burned  for  it  in  1518.  In  the  same  year 
Thomas  Mann  met  his  death  at  the  stake. }  Previously, 
before  the  Bishop  of  Lincoln,  he  had  been  charged 
with  not  believing  in  the  "Sacrament  of  Extreme 
Unction,"  and  was  ordered  to  wear  the  faggot-badge 
and  remain  in  St.  Frideswide's  Monastery  in  Oxford. 
He   managed   to  escape,  and   was    found   in   London 


LOLLARDISM   IN  ENGLAND  243 

badgeless,  and  proceeded  against  as  a  heretic.  With 
their  three  fingers  on  the  holy  Gospels,  the  witnesses 
against  him  had  to  swear  the  truth,  the  thumb  and 
little  finger  put  downwards  under  the  book  as  if  to 
show  that  condemnation  was  theirs  if  they  told  false- 
hoods. The  bishop's  chancellor,  Dr.  Hed,  was  his 
counsel,  but  inveigled  him  into  confirming  a  witness 
on  the  other  side.  The  jail-keeper  declared  that  Mann 
had  said  that  "  the  laws  of  the  Church  were  grounded 
upon  Pilate  and  Caiaphas."  On  29th  March  he  was 
delivered  by  Dr.  Hed  to  the  Sheriff  of  London  with 
the  admonition — "We  desire  in  the  bowels  of  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ  that  thy  punishment  on  this  account 
may  be  so  moderate,  that  there  be  no  rigour  nor  want 
of  mildness,  but  that  all  may  be  done  for  the  salvation 
and  welfare  of  thy  soul."  In  Paternoster  Row  the 
sheriff  had  Mann  delivered  to  him  at  the  back-door 
of  the  bishop's  house,  the  chancellor  declaring  that  he 
could  not  put  him  to  death.  But  the  sheriff  knew 
what  was  meant,  and  had  him  brought  to  Smithfield 
and  burned.  f  Mann  seems  to  have  acted  as  an  itinerant 
Lollard  preacher  sometimes  in  Norfolk,  Suffolk,  Middle- 
sex, Berks,  and  Buckinghamshire.  A  secret  congrega- 
tion of  Lollards  at  Newbury,  which  had  met  for  fifteen 
years,  was  betrayed,  and  some  of  them  were  burned, 
and  all  of  them  punished  in  one  way  or  another. 
Having  escaped  his  fate  at  Newbury,  he  joined  the 
Amersham  congregation,  and  after  its  dispersal  he  was 
arrested  in  1518  and  burned,  the  episcopal  register 
iring  that  he  confessed  to  having  "turned  seven 
hundred  people  to  his  religion,  for  which  he  thanks 
God."  > 

1 11  the  registers  of  Longland,  bishop  of  Lincoln,  the 


244     WYCLIFFE  AND  THE  LOLLARDS 

burning  is  recorded  of  John  Cosin,  who  taught  a 
woman  that  she  might  as  well  drink  before  Mass  on 
Sundays  as  on  any  other  day.  Christopher  Shoomaker 
was  burned  at  Newbury  for  reading  out  of  the  Gospels 
and  denying  transubstantiation.  Coventry  was  famous 
for  its  burnings.  In  1519,  seven  were  destroyed  in  one 
fire — four  shoemakers,  Hatches,  Archer,  Bond  and 
Hawkins,  a  glover  called  Wrigsham,  a  hosier  named 
Landale,  and  a  widow  called  Smith.  For  having 
taught  their  children  the  Ten  Commandments,  Creed, 
and  Lord's  Prayer  in  English,  they  were  all  burned 
in  the  Little  Park;  and  their  children,  who  were 
examined  as  to  their  parents'  teaching  by  the  warden 
of  Maxtock  Abbey,  and  informed  that  they  might  save 
their  parents  from  death,  were  left  destitute.  There 
was  a  great  wave  of  discontent  over  this  event,  and 
finally  to  assuage  it  the  bishop  declared  that  it  was  not 
for  having  these  articles  in  English,  but  for  eating 
meat  on  Fridays  and  other  fast  days  that  they  were 
punished.  One  of  their  companions,  Robert  Selker, 
made  good  his  escape,  but  two  years  later  was  burned 
at  Coventry  (1521). 

During  1520-21  the  registers  of  Lincoln  diocese 
reveal  a  busy  term  of  prosecution.  )  Lollardism  had 
spread  its  influence  far  and  wide.  Though  public 
meetings  of  the  sect  were  prohibited,  the  Scriptures 
and  WyclifFe's  tracts  passed  from  hand  to  hand,  even 
as  much  as  a  load  of  hay  being  given  for  a  few 
chapters  of  St.  Paul's  Epistles.  The  charges  made 
against  them  were  not  for  any  immoral  or  irreligious 
conduct,  but  uniformly  for  denying  the  characteristic 
doctrines  of  the  Roman  Church.  Lonofland,  then 
Bishop  of  Lincoln,  was  a  stern  opponent  of  the  new 


LOLLARDISM   IN  ENGLAND  245 

views,  and  cross-questioned  suspected  persons  widely 
and  vigorously,  entangling  them,  and  getting  them 
to  expose  and  accuse  one  another  of  heresy.  For  the 
year  1521  -his  register  contains  a  hundred  names  of 
persons  tried  for  heresy. ;  Richard  White  of  Beacons- 
Held  was  one  of  those  who,  referring  to  Longland's 
predecessor,  was  overheard  to  remark  that  he  was  a 
good  man,  and  that  if  his  successor  were  "a  blessed 
man"  he  would  leave  the  Lollards  alone.  But  White 
found  to  his  cost  that  new  bishops  make  new  laws. 
Some  of  the  names  of  these  Lincoln  Lollards  may  be 
given : — James  Morden,  who  was  informed  against  by 
his  sister  for  teaching  her  the  Lord's  Prayer,  etc.,  in 
English ;  John  Barnet,  for  having  recited  St.  James' 
Epistle  in  his  family  without  book  ;  Agnes  Ward,  for 
declaring  that  in  her  danger  it  was  better  to  go  to  God 
than  to  Our  Lady  and  the  saints ;  Robert  Drury,  vicar 
of  Windrish,  for  advising  his  servant  to  eat  bread  and 
se  on  a  fast  day ;  Isabel  Morwen,  for  questioning 
the  doctrine  of  purgatory  at  her  father's  deathbed ; 
John  Teacher,  for  having  taught  a  friend  the  beati- 
tudes and  other  verses  in  English;  Richard  Vulford, 
and  Thomas  Geffrey,  for  denying  transubstantiation, 
and  declaring  that  he  knew  of  two  priests  who  put  a 
mouse  into  the  pyx  as  an  experiment,  and  the  mouse 
ate  the  wafer, — an  experiment  which  cost  one  of  these 
Essex   pi  s    life;    John   and   Richard   Bernard, 

Vulford,  Thomas  Philip,  Laurence  Taylor,  and 
r  reading  the  Scriptures  in  English;  a  youth 
John    Collins   of    Burford    actually   informed 
against  hif  own  father  because  he  had  taught  him  the 
i  English,  and  not  to  worship  the  sacra- 
of  the  altar  as  God  :   Iknry  Phtlp  was  accused 


246    WYCLIFFE  AND  THE   LOLLARDS 

by  his  own  father  for  denying  the  validity  of  pilgrim- 
ages and  images ;  while  John  Scrivener's  own  children 
were  compelled  to  light  his  pyre. 

Wycliffe's  two  books,  The  Wicket  and  The  Shepherd's 
Calendar,  were  at  this  time  widely  circulated  in 
England;  and  in  these  the  doctrine  of  the  Lord's 
Supper  was  distinctly  explained  as  against  transub- 
stantiation.  "Men  speak  much  of  the  sacrament  of 
the  altar,  but  this  will  I  abide  by,  that  Christ  brake 
bread  to  His  disciples  and  bade  them  eat  it,  saying 
that  it  was  His  flesh  and  blood;  and  then  He  went 
from  them  and  suffered,  and  then  rose  from  death  to 
life  and  ascended  into  heaven,  and  there  sitteth  on  the 
right  hand  of  the  Father :  and  there  He  is  to  remain 
unto  the  day  of  doom,  when  He  shall  judge  both  quick 
and  dead,  and,  therefore,  how  He  should  be  here  in  the 
form  of  bread,  I  cannot  see."  Bishop  Longland  could 
not  controvert  the  plain  Scripture  teaching  of  the 
Lollards,  and  so  called  in  the  civil  power  to  assist 
him  in  discovering  and  punishing  the  Wycliffite 
dissentients. 

Many  Lollards  submitted,  and,  having  abjured  their 
opinions,  had  penance  given  them,  and  were  sent  to 
some  monastery  or  abbey  as  prisoners.  There  is  still 
extant  a  letter  from  the  bishop  to  the  Abbot  of  Ensham, 
carried  by  a  Lollard  penitent  to  the  monastery,  which 
is  as  follows : 

"  My  loving  brother,  I  recommend  me  heartily  unto 
you.  And  whereas  I  have  according  to  the  law  put 
the  bearer  R.  T.  to  perpetual  penance  within  your 
monastery  of  Ensham,  there  to  live  as  a  penitent  and 
not  otherwise,  I  pray  you  and  command  you  to 
receive  him.     As  for  his  lodging,  he  will  bring  it  with 


LOLLARDISM   IN  ENGLAND  247 

him ;  and  as  for  his  meat  and  drink,  he  may  have  such 
as  you  give  of  your  alms.  And  if  he  can  so  order 
himself  by  his  labour  within  your  house,  in  your 
business,  whereby  he  may  deserve  his  meat  and  drink, 
you  may  order  him  as  ye  see  convenient  to  his 
deserts,  so  that  he  pass  not  the  precincts  of  your 
monasteryj' 

Those  who  were  not  destined  to  participate  in  the 
"riotous  living"  outlined  in  the  bishop's  epistle, 
were  in  a  more  lenient  spirit  condemned  to  carry  a 
wood-faggot  in  market  or  church,  to  fast  at  certain 
seasons,  and  to  repeat  the  Lady  psalter  on  Sundays  and 
Fridays  throughout  the  year.  They  were  also  for- 
bidden to  hide  their  brands  in  any  way,  to  suffer  their 
beards  to  grow  more  than  fourteen  days,  or  to  be 
found  with  any  suspected  persons  in  private  houses. 
These  vows  they  were  obliged  to  take  with  their  hand 
on  the  holy  Gospels,  and  with  the  sign  of  the  cross 
declaring  that  they  detested  and  forsook  their  heresies 
for  themselves  and  for  others  for  ever. 

These  oppressive  measures,  however,  at  last  raised 
the  strong  cry  of  discontent  and  disapproval;  and 
what  with  the  admitted  unsatisfactory  state  of  the 
clergy,  the  oppression  of  the  people  by  the  Church,  and 
D  the  yoke  under  which  he  himself  was  obliged  to 
rule,  Henry  vm.  at  last  began  to  waver.  He  had 
been  a  devoted  son  of  the  Church,  and  had  written 
famous  treatise  against  Luther  on  the  "seven 
Sacraments,"  a  copy  of  which  was  presented  to  the 
Pope  in  1521  and  was  received  with  the  most  unctuous 
eulogies,  His  Holiness  declaring  that  the  book  would 
be  placed  alongside  of  Augustine  and  Jerome  and  the 
rest.     To  crown   all,   since   Henry  could   not  receive 


248    WYCLIFFE  AND  THE  LOLLARDS 

the  fateful  Golden  Rose,  the  Pope  made  him  "  Defender 
of  the  Faith,"  a  title  still  enjoyed  by  the  Sovereigns 
of  Great  Britain,  though  in  their  Coronation  Oath 
abjuring  the  faith  referred  to. 

Not  content  with  placing  Henry's  treatise  on  a 
level  with  the  holy  Fathers,  the  Pope  granted  an 
indulgence  for  ten  years  to  all  who  read  it ;  and  this 
included  permission  to  eat  ffesh  in  Lent.  Luther 
vigorously  replied  to  Henry,  and  at  the  same  time 
allowed  Cardinal  Wolsey  to  feel  some  of  the  hearty 
knocks  which  the  little  monk  who  shook  Europe 
could  give.  To  get  at  Luther  was  impossible ;  but 
King  and  cardinal  united  to  suppress  his  books,  and 
required  all  those  in  possession  of  any  of  the  writings 
of  "that  pestilent  heretic  Martin  Luther"  to  deliver 
them  to  their  ordinaries  within  fifteen  days  on  pain 
of  being  treated  as  heretics.  Cardinal  Wolsey  was 
papal  legate,  and  as  such  ordered  a  notice  to  be  affixed 
to  the  door  of  every  church  summing  up  the  forty- 
two  propositions  extracted  from  Luther's  works  which 
had  been  condemned  by  the  Holy  See.  Notwith- 
standing all  Wolsey's  stern  measures  of  repression  the 
Lollard  cause  advanced,  and  Luther's  works  were 
translated  and  read  all  over  England.  Wolsey  over- 
stepped the  limits  of  his  commission  as  papal  legate, 
and  summoned  in  his  own  name  a  council  "  to  reform 
the  manners  of  the  clergy."  Fox,  bishop  of  Winchester, 
had  suggested  this  to  him  in  a  long  letter  in  which 
he  says  that  "  by  this  means  of  a  reformation  of  the 
clergy  he  thought  the  common  people  would  be 
pacified,  that  were  always  crying  out  against  them." 
Wolsey's  whole  device  was  as  futile  in  its  results  as 
it  was  questionable  in  its  real  motive,  the  real  state 


LOLLARDISM  IN  ENGLAND  249 

of  affairs  being  that  he  wished  to  put  his  foot  on  the 
neck  of  the  English  clergy  and  bishops  and  aggrandise 
himself,  while  his  own  private  life  had  more  need  of 
reformation  than  anything  else. 

Worse  than  any  vices  in  the  eyes  of  Wolsey  and 
the  bishops  was  the  reading  of  the  English  Scriptures 
and  the  writings  of  Wycliffe  and  Luther,  and  the 
denial  of  transubstantiation,  image- worship,  purgatory, 
etc.  Nevertheless  the  "  Brethren  in  Christ,"  these 
early  Reformers  who  gathered  in  groups  in  London, 
Colchester,  and  in  various  parts  of  Essex,  survived. 
Many  were  arrested  and  brought  face  to  face  with 
Cuthbert  Tunstall,  bishop  of  London,  and  his  chancellor, 
Dr.  Wharton.  Tunstall  was  a  pious  and  learned  man, 
and  actually  in  1541  along  with  Nicholas  Heath, 
bishop  of  Rochester,  revised  a  new  edition  of  the 
English  Bible.  The  Psalms  still  preserved  in  the 
Anglican  Prayer-Book  are  Tunstall's,  and  are  fine 
examples  of  forceful,  nervous,  vigorous  English.  His 
lenity  towards  Protestants  frequently  got  him  into 
trouble,  and  he  even  spent  some  time  in  the  Tower. 

In  1527  Tunstall  held  a  visitation  of  his  diocese, 
and  the  original  registers  record  several  cases  of 
arrest  and  examination  for  heresy.  For  example, 
John  Pykas  of  Colchester,  a  baker,  swore  regarding 
Richard  Best  that  he  had  heard  him  repeat  St. 
James  Epistle  in  English  by  heart;  regarding  John 
ing,  thai  conversing  with  him  regarding  prayer, 
he  declared  that  only  the  Father  of  Lights  was  the 
proper  object  of  devotion  and  adoration ;  regarding 
Thomas  Raylond,  that  conversing  with  him  he  had 
quoted  in  English  the  Creed,  Lord's  Prayer,  and 
of  James  and  John,  and  regarded  baptism  as 


250     WYCLIFFE  AND  THE  LOLLARDS 

only  a  sign  of  remission.  Pykas  also  witnessed 
against  Marian  Matthew  for  repeating  off  by  heart 
in  English,  parts  of  the  Epistles  and  Gospels,  and 
speaking  against  pilgrimages,  as  well  as  witnessing 
against  four  other  females  and  Thomas  Parker.  In 
turn,  Raylond,  just  referred  to,  was  examined  as  to 
Pykas  and  others,  with  the  effect  that  this  inquisi- 
torial procedure  resulted  in  hundreds  of  secret 
Lollards  being  discovered  and  brought  before  the 
bishop  and  chancellor,  one  notable  person  thus  un- 
earthed being  Robert  Forman,  rector  of  a  London 
city  parish,  and  other  clergy.  Tunstall's  method  was 
to  endeavour  to  persuade  the  prisoners  to  relinquish 
their  views,  or  at  any  rate  to  dissemble  them  in  order 
that  there  might  be  no  further  difficulties  for  him 
or  for  them. 

Another  name  comes  into  evidence  about  this  time, 
that  of  John  Tyball,  the  chief  charge  against  whom 
was  that  he  possessed  several  copies  and  portions  of 
the  New  Testament  in  English.  He  openly  confessed 
that  the  study  of  a  chapter  in  St.  Paul's  Epistles  to 
the  Corinthians  led  him  to  his  beliefs,  and  also  brought 
Richard  Fox,  curate  of  Bumstead  in  Essex,  to  the 
same  views.  One  who  confessed  to  Fox  in  Lent,  of  the 
name  of  Robert  Hempstead,  was  asked  by  him  as  to 
his  beliefs  regarding  the  sacrament  of  the  altar,  and 
replied  that  he  believed  it  to  be  the  very  body  and 
blood  of  Christ.  Fox  replied  to  him :  "  Nay,  thou 
must  not  do  so;  for  this  is  not  the  best  way:  but 
believe  thou  in  the  Father,  the  Son,  and  the  Holy 
Ghost,  and  not  in  the  sacrament  of  the  altar." 
Hempstead  replied,  suspecting  duplicity:  "I  fear  you 
go  about  to  bring  me  into  the  same  situation  as  the 


LOLLARDISM   IN   ENGLAND  251 

men  of  Colchester";  and  Fox  replied:  "Why,  man, 
art  thou  afraid  ?  Be  not  afraid,  for  they  serve  a 
better  Master  than  ever  thou  didst  serve." 

In  all  these  cases  of  prosecution  for  heresy,  as 
recorded  by  Strype,  Fox,  and  others,  they  quote  from 
the  episcopal  registers  of  the  time,  and  not  from 
mere  hearsay  or  rumour.  Of  course,  the  chief  authority 
for  these  cases  of  heresy  in  the  sixteenth  century 
and  earlier  is  Fox's  Acts  and  Monuments  of  the 
Church,  a  work  in  which  he  was  assisted  by  Bishop 
Grindal,  then  an  exile,  and  many  others  at  home  and 
abroad.  Fox  began  his  Book  of  Martyrs  in  1552,  and 
took  eleven  years  to  finish  the  compilation,  the  first 
edition  appearing  in  1563 ;  and  the  simple,  homely 
record,  complied  entirely  from  the  episcopal  registers 
and  the  evidence  and  recollections  of  witnesses,  had  a 
most  potent  influence  in  helping  on  the  cause  of 
Reform  in  England.  In  time  the  wave,  long  gathering, 
finally  broke,  and  Henry  VIII.  at  last  renounced  the 
papal  authority  and  assumed  the  title  of  Head  of 
the  Church  of  England.  During  the  latter  half  of 
bifl  reign  he  showed  as  much  zeal  in  persecuting  the 
defenders  of  the  Roman  faith  as  he  had  previously 
done  in  crushing  the  reforming  party.  At  last  he 
was  excommunicated  by  Pope  Clement ;  and  it  would 
almost  seem  that  these  temporal  and  spiritual 
sovereigns  were  about  equally  defective  in  the  moral 
1  in*-,  for  the  papal  historian  Guicciardini,  while  calling 
dement  a  good  Pope,  adds:  "I  mean  not  goodness 
apostolical,  for  in  those  days  he  was  esteemed  a  good 
Pope  that  did  not  exceed  the  worst  of  men  in  wicked- 
I  :'lale  printed  the  first  edition  of  his  New 
Testament   at  Cologne  or  Wittemberg  in   1525,   and 


252     WYCLIFFE  AND  THE  LOLLARDS 

copies  of  the  new  version  rapidly  overspread  England, 
so  much  so  that  Tunstall,  bishop  of  London,  proscribed 
them,  and  made  a  bonfire  of  many  of  them  in 
Cheapside.  His  action  was,  however,  of  little  use,  for 
the  invention  of  printing  was  now  an  accomplished 
fact,  and  the  Dutch  printers  produced  multitudes  of 
fresh  copies.  Strange  to  say,  Sir  Thomas  More  was 
one  of  those  who  frowned  upon  Tyndale's  Testament, 
and  strictly  examined  those  who  had  to  do  with  any 
heretics  connected  with  Antwerp.  Ridley  and  Latimer 
followed,  and  in  course  of  time  Henry  and  England 
finally  broke  with  Rome ;  and  though  the  Pope  asked 
the  nation  and  nobles  to  rebel  against  him,  and 
forbade  them  to  obey  him  who  once  was  the  "  Defender 
of  the  Faith,"  it  was  of  no  use :  the  hour  had  come : 
the  hand  pointed  to  the  hour  of  final  reformation,  and 
the  clock  at  last  struck. 


CHAPTER   II 

LOLLARDISM   IN   SCOTLAND 

Christianity  in  Scotland  began  with  St.  Ninian,  St. 
Columba,  and  St.  Mungo.  These  were  the  real  fathers 
of  the  Faith  of  Christ  in  Caledonia.  The  Columban 
Church,  which  was  the  real  Church  of  Scotland,  differed 
in  many  respects  from  the  Roman  Church  as  expounded 
by  St.  Augustine  the  great  Roman  missionary,  and 
first  prelate  of  Canterbury.  The  differences  were  not 
very  great  after  all.  In  early  times  the  Scottish 
Church  was  concerned  with  hair-cutting;  in  later 
times,  with  hair-splitting.  The  Culdees  kept  Easter 
upon  the  fourteenth  day  of  the  moon,  without  reference 
to  the  day  of  the  week,  instead  of  the  Sunday  follow- 
ing. The  Paschal  controversy,  as  well  as  the  matter 
of  the  tonsure,  just  referred  to, — the  method  in  which 
the  Christian  missionaries  should  cut  their  hair,  were 
the  main  issues  at  stake  in  an  age  which  had  to  do 
with  trifles.  Behind  these  minor  controversies  and 
disputes  there  was,  however,  the  deeper  question  of 
whether  the  Church  of  Scotland  was  to  be  held  subject 
to  Rome  and  its  decisions  and  dogmas.  Wyntoun 
iares  that  the  Church  of  Scotland  always  loved 
"a  way  of  its  own,"  and  this  is  abundantly  true. 
When  Abbot  Bernard  of  Arbroath  held  his  assembly 
of  the  Scottish  barons  and  nobles  in  Arbroath  Abbey 


254    WYCLIFFE  AND  THE  LOLLARDS 

in  1318,  he  announced  in  the  remarkable  declaration 
which  has  come  down,  that  rather  than  be  subject  to 
England  he  would  go  against  the  Holy  See,  a  remark- 
able declaration  of  patriotism  as  against  ecclesiasticism. 
Robert  the  Bruce  was  made  King  in  1306,  and  Abbot 
Bernard  held  the  Great  Seal  until  his  death  in  1327, — 
at  all  times  and  in  all  things  a  true  Scottish  patriot. 
Pope  John  xxn.,  in  his  Bull  for  anointing  Robert  Bruce 
king  of  Scotland,  complained  of  the  large  number  of 
heretics  in  Scotland.  Alcuin  and  others  were  against 
the  doctrine  of  transubstantiation  in  an  earlier  age 
in  the  North  of  England,  and  his  followers  in  Yorkshire, 
together  with  the  Culdees,  kept  up  the  independence 
of  the  Northern  Church  against  Roman  oppression. 
In  the  eleventh  century,  however,  Queen  Margaret, 
who  was  made  a  saint,  practically  suppressed  the 
Culdee  faith.  The  remonstrance,  therefore,  of  Abbot 
Bernard  of  Arbroath  and  of  the  Churchmen  who  fought 
at  Bannockburn  was  mainly  political  and  patriotic, 
and  was  the  voice  of  Northern  Britain  declaring  for 
freedom,  political  and  ecclesiastical.  Scotland  wished 
to  be  free  and  independent  of  England ;  and  some  of 
the  noblest  defenders  of  Scottish  liberties  were 
prominent  Churchmen,  who  thus  became  antagonistic 
to  Rome,  which  rather  favoured  England. 

Of  all  these  the  greatest  and  most  outstanding 
Scottish  patriot  was  the  great  Abbot  of  Arbroath, 
Robert  the  Bruce's  first  chancellor  after  his  elevation 
to  the  throne  in  1306,  and  the  keeper  of  the  Great 
Seal  of  Scotland  until  1327— the  year  of  his  death. 
The  memorable  assembly  of  nobles  and  prelates  held 
in  Arbroath  Abbey,  with  its  great  round  windows, 
far-stretching  nave,  and  charming  minstrels'  gallery, 


LOLLARDISM   IN  SCOTLAND         255 

was  instigated  by  this  great  and  public-spirited  Scots- 
man, who  is  believed  to  have  drawn  up  that  spirited 
declaration  in  favour  of  Scottish  independence  addressed 
to  the  Pope,  which  practically  declared  that  rather 
than  part  with  their  independence,  the  Scottish  people 
would  break  with  the  Church.  The  date  of  that 
remarkable  manifesto  is  6th  April  1320,  and  was 
the  expression  of  the  feelings  of  the  entire  Scottish 
people  against  the  aggressions  of  England.  England 
tried  to  bring  papal  influence  to  bear  upon  the  Holy 
See  to  favour  its  scheme  of  aggression,  which  had 
suffered  so  great  a  shock  at  Bannockburn  in  1314, 
when  the  mailed  Churchman  took  his  place  on  the 
field  of  battle  alongside  of  the  baron  and  the  knight, 
and  fought  for  freedom's  noble  cause. 

This  was,  however,  more  a  political  than  a  religious 
rebellion  against  Rome ;  for  ever  since  Queen  Margaret, 
Malcolm  Canmore's  pious  consort,  managed  to  oust 
the  Culdees  and  substitute  for  them  the  more  active 
and  missionary  clergy  of  the  Roman  Church,  Scotland 
had  become  daily  more  thoroughly  a  dependency  of 
the  Holy  See.  The  saintly  Queen  who  thus,  coming 
to  Scotland,  succeeded  in  ousting  the  original  Church 
and  ways  of  the  land  of  her  adoption,  was  beatified 
by  Rome  for  her  service  to  the  Vicar  of  Christ. 
Culdeeism  died  hard,  however,  and  for  more  than  a 
century  continued  to  live,  though  only  in  scattered 
places  and  in  decreasing  numbers,  and  finally  dis- 
appeared altogether,  and  the  Roman  Church  entirely 
supplanted  the  ancient  Church  of  St.  Columba.  The 
s  and  practices  of  Rome,  however,  were  often 
questioned  in  Scotland  even  after  that  conspicuous 
triumph,  by  those  who  remembered  the  earlier  teach- 


256    WYCLIFFE  AND  THE  LOLLARDS 

ing  and  the  more  primitive  faith.  In  various  Roman 
Catholic  histories  of  the  thirteenth,  fourteenth,  and 
fifteenth  centuries,  reference  is  made  to  isolated 
individuals  who  held  the  doctrines  of  the  Waldenses 
and  of  the  English  Lollards. 

Wycliffe  was  Master  of  Balliol  College, — the  vener- 
able school  of  learning,  the  third  oldest  foundation  in 
Oxford,  founded  by  John  Balliol,  the  father  of  John 
de  Balliol,  king  of  Scotland,  in  1361.  The  founder 
was  to  have  been  flagellated  at  the  church  doors  of 
Durham  Cathedral,  but  escaped  by  founding  in  1260 
this  college  for  poor  scholars.  In  the  Rotuli  Scotice 
there  are  to  be  found  many  Scotch  names  in  this 
College  founded  by  the  Scottish  King,  and  still  the 
most  Scottish  bit  of  Oxford  University.  From  1357- 
1389  there  seems  to  have  been  quite  a  stream  of  young 
Scotsmen  going  to  Oxford  under  the  safe-conducts  of 
the  King  of  England.  These  passports,  so  to  speak, 
enabled  young  Scottish  students  to  go  to  Oxford, 
Cambridge,  Durham,  and  elsewhere;  but  from  1364- 
1379  every  one  of  them  almost  seems  to  have  gravitated 
towards  Oxford,  where  Wycliffe  was  in  the  height  of 
his  power  and  influence,  Oxford  at  the  height  of  its 
intellectual  and  spiritual  glory,  and  Lollardism  in  the 
full  strength  of  a  new  enthusiasm.  In  1365  safe- 
conducts  were  given  to  eight  of  our  Scottish  students 
to  go  to  Oxford,  proving  that  the  powerful  hand  of 
Wycliffe  had  reached  as  far  as  Caledonia.  These 
returned  students  brought  with  them  to  Scotland,  as 
the  Bohemian  students  did  to  their  home-land,  the 
powerful  influences  and  the  glowing  enthusiasm  of 
the  Master  of  Balliol. 

In  1405  the  presence  of  Lollard  influences  in  Scotland 


LOLLARDISM   IN  SCOTLAND         257 

WBfl  the  occasion  of  public  attention.  Robert,  duke 
of  Albany,  had  been  made  Governor  of  Scotland,  and 
Wyntoun  says  of  him  in  his  Chronicle : 

"  He  was  a  constant  Catholike, 
AH  Lollard  he  hatyt  and  heretike." 

It  was  somewhere  about  1405  or  thereabouts  that 
the  first  movement  was  made  in  Scotland  to  extinguish 
the  Lollard  influence. 

Moved  by  the  Church,  the  civil  power  threatened 
the  holders  of  the  new  views,  and  an  inquisitorial 
court  was  formed,  presided  over  by  Lawrence  of 
Lindores,  who  afterwards  became  Abbot  of  Scone, 
first  Professor  of  Law  in  St.  Andrews,  and  the  author 
of  Examen  Hcereticorum  Lollardorwm  quos  toto  regno 
exegit.  Notwithstanding  these  repressive  measures, 
the  voice  of  the  Lollard  was  heard  in  the  land.  In 
St.  Andrews  the  movement  must  have  been  unusually 
strong  from  1405  onwards,  for  in  1416  it  was  enacted 
that  all  Masters  of  Arts  should  as  part  of  their  gradua- 
tion oath  solemnly  abjure  Iiollardism. 

A  striking  figure  in  Scotland  about  this  time  was 
Patrick  Graham,  Archbishop  of  St.  Andrews,  who,  after 
ing  as  prelate  of  Brechin,  went  to  Rome  to  have 
his  election  as  Bishop  of  St.  Andrews  confirmed.  The 
controversy  between  England  and  Scotland  as  to 
whether  the  Scottish  Church  was  independent  or 
subject  to  the  Archbishop  of  York  reached  an  acute 
stage  in  1471,  when  Graham  so  convinced  the  Pope  of 
the  reasonableness  of  the  claims  of  the  Church  of 
Scotland,  which,  as  Wyntoun  says,  "  always  loved  a  way 
of  its  own,"  that  he  gained  independence  for  it,  broke 
the  rule  of  York,  and  had  his  own  See  erected  into  an 


258     WYCLIFFE  AND  THE  LOLLARDS 

archbishopric  to  which  the  twelve  Scottish  bishops 
were  to  be  subject.  He  was  appointed  also  papal 
legate  to  Scotland  for  three  years.  Archbishop 
Graham's  strong  action  in  Rome  was  not  acceptable 
to  the  Scottish  sovereign,  to  the  nobility  generally, 
who  feared  that  the  scandalous  sale  of  Church  livings 
would  be  stopped,  and  to  many  of  the  clergy,  whose 
envy  he  excited.  After  his  return  to  Scotland  he  was 
charged  with  having  exceeded  his  powers  in  carding 
on  negotiations  with  the  Pope  without  the  King's 
consent;  and  Sheviz,  the  archdeacon  of  St.  Andrews, 
who  was  the  King's  favourite  for  his  skill  in  astrology, 
moved  by  clerical  jealousy,  brought  other  accusations 
against  him  as  to  his  doctrines,  though  it  does  not  seem 
clear  that  his  leanings  were  towards  Lollardism,  but 
only  in  favour  of  ecclesiastical  reforms.  He  was 
suspended  as  archbishop  and  papal  legate  meanwhile. 
Next,  the  rector  of  the  university  picked  a  quarrel 
with  him,  and  brought  the  unfortunate  prelate  to  court, 
and  had  him  excommunicated.  Graham,  whether  his 
beliefs  savoured  of  Lollardism  or  not,  and  both  sides 
have  been  plausibly  argued,  conducted  himself  like  the 
noblest  of  the  Wycliffe  confessors.  Always  a  man  of 
primitive  simplicity,  apostolic  zeal,  and  holy  life,  his 
trials  purified  him,  and  made  him  even  greater.  His 
meekness  and  fortitude  in  the  face  of  the  jealous  abuse 
of  Sheviz,  who  had  wished  the  See  of  St.  Andrews 
himself,  excited  the  admiration  even  of  his  enemies. 
At  last,  however,  his  nerve  and  staying  power  gave 
way,  and  he  became  utterly  distracted;  and,  taking 
advantage  of  his  overstrung  nerves,  Sheviz  managed 
to  have  him  declared  insane,  and  got  the  custody  of 
his  person.     At  first  he  was  confined  in  the  ancient 


LOLLARDISM   IN  SCOTLAND         259 

Culdee  house  in  Inchcolm  island  on  the  Forth,  and 
afterwards  in  Lochleven  Castle,  where  a  century  later 
the  beautiful  Mary  languished.  Overwhelmed  with 
his  sorrows  and  the  irksomeness  of  the  close  island 
prison,  he  died  there  in  1478.  Whether  he  sympathised 
with  Lollardism  or  not  is  an  open  question,  but  he 
certainly  was  the  enemy  of  all  abuses  in  the  Church, 
and  strove  to  have  them  removedc  Like  Abbot 
Bernard  of  Arbroath  in  Bruce's  age,  so  Archbishop 
Graham  in  the  fifteenth  century  was  a  great  Scottish 
patriot,  and  one  of  the  founders  of  the  independence 
of  the  country  and  its  Church.  An  earnest  seeker 
after  God,  and  withal  a  well  persecuted  one,  he  was, 
Lollard  or  no  Lollard,  a  strong  reforming  influence  in 
the  Scotland  of  his  day. 

Knox  in  his  History  traces  several  of  these  protests 
and  protesters  against  the  domination  and  dogmas  of 
Rome  in  Scotland.  In  the  records  of  Glasgow,  for 
instance,  which,  like  other  registers,  he  examined 
carefully,  he  found  mention  of  John  Risby,  an  English 
Lollard,  who,  being  accused  by  Lawrence  Linders  for 
declaring  that  the  Pope  was  not  indeed  the  Vicar  of 
Christ,  was  burned  in  1422.  A  good  deal  of  intercourse 
must  have  taken  place  between  the  Continent  and 
Scotland,  and  the  Bohemian  influence  seems  to  have 
told  upon  the  latter.  Lollardism  began  to  appear  in 
the  Acts  of  the  Scottish  Parliament.  James  I.  held  a 
Parliament  at  Perth  (March  1424),  at  which  it  was 
ordained  that  all  bishops  should,  through  their 
inquisitorial  courts,  search  out  all  Lollard  heretics  and 
invoke  the  aid  of  civil  courts  to  extirpate  them, — Acts 
which  were  frequently  repeated  in  subsequent  years. 
In   1  I'll   a    Bohemian  of  the  name  of  Paul  Craw  was 


260     WYCLIFFE  AND  THE  LOLLARDS 

arrested  at  St.  Andrews  for  holding  the  views  of 
Wycliffe  and  Huss  and  denying  the  transubstantiation 
view  of  the  sacrament,  prayers  to  the  saints,  confession 
to  priests,  and  other  beliefs.  He  declared  that  he 
would  resist  to  the  last  against  these  views,  and 
accordingly  he  was  handed  over  to  the  civil  power 
and  burned ;  and  Knox  declares  that  a  brass  ball  was 
put  in  his  mouth  to  prevent  him  speaking  at  the 
stake.  Craw  was  a  Bohemian  doctor,  and,  like  other 
brethren  of  the  Common  Life,  used  his  profession  to 
advance  the  cause  of  Lollardism.  The  Hussite  leaders 
in  Prague  sent  missionaries  in  this  way  all  over  Europe, 
these  leaders  in  Craw's  time  being  Procopius  and  John 
of  Rokycana.  The  one  testimony  borne  against  all  the 
Lollards  everywhere  was  borne  against  Craw  in  the 
records  of  the  inquisitorial  court — familiar  acquaint- 
ance with  the  vernacular  Scripture;  and  this  charge 
being  amply  substantiated  against  Craw,  he  met  his 
doom,  and  thus  brought  credit  to  the  Scottish  inquisitor 
for  unearthing  so  dangerous  and  subtle  a  heretic.  But 
the  most  striking  and  remarkable  testimony  given  for 
the  Lollard  doctrines  in  the  fifteenth  century  was  in 
the  year  1494,  when  the  "  Lollards  of  Kyle  "  in  Ayrshire, 
to  the  number  of  thirty,  were  accused  by  the  Arch- 
bishop of  Glasgow,  Blackader,  before  the  King  and 
his  council,  for  the  Wycliffe  heresies.  The  list  includes 
the  names  of  Campbell  of  Cesnock,  Schaw  of  Pollamac, 
Reid  of  Barskynning,  Helen  Chamber,  Lady  Polkellie, 
Isabel  Chamber,  and  the  Lady  Stair.  In  the  register 
of  Glasgow  the  charges  against  them  are  carefully 
enumerated,  —  that  they  refused  to  worship  images 
and  relics,  denied  the  Vicarship  of  Christ  to  the  Pope, 
while  admitting  the  special  powers  given  to  St.  Peter 


LOLLARDISM   IN  SCOTLAND         261 

and  the  apostles,  and  declared  that  at  the  altar  the 
bread  and  wine  were  not  turned  into  the  corporeal 
body  and  blood  of  Christ.  These  Kyle  Lollards  seem 
to  have  expressed  themselves  pretty  freely,  if  not 
sarcastically-;  for  in  declaring  that  the  Pope  is  not 
St.  Peter's  successor  they  added  that  he  is  only  such  in 
so  far  as  Christ  said  to  that  apostle — "  Get  thee  behind 
me,  Satan,"  and  that  all  manner  of  deceit  is  practised 
by  the  Holy  See  in  Indulgences,  Bulls,  and  the  like, 
exalting  himself  against  Christ.  They  further  declared 
that  no  Pope  can  remit  the  pains  of  purgatory  or 
sanction  miracles;  and  that  prayer  should  be  offered 
not  to  the  Virgin  or  saints,  but  to  God  alone,  "  since  He 
alone  hears  us  and  answers  us."  Knox  in  his  account 
of  these  Kyle  Lollards  says  that  it  is  wonderful  how 
God  in  His  providence  had  preserved  the  record  of 
their  testimony  in  the  registers  of  the  bishops  them- 
selves ;  and  this  testimony  is  the  more  astonishing  when 
it  is  remembered  that  copies  of  the  Bible  in  Scotland 
were  extraordinarily  scarce.  The  Archbishop  of 
Glasgow,  who  led  the  accusation  before  the  King,  was 
a  man  of  remarkable  power  and  gifts.  Sprung  from 
the  old  Berwickshire  family  of  Blackader  who 
distinguished  themselves  so  much  in  the  Border  feuds 
in  the  middle  of  the  fifteenth  century,  he  was  sent  to 
Rome  in  1480  by  James  in.,  and  on  that  monarch's 
recommendation  was  created  by  the  Pope,  Sixtus  iv., 
op  of  Aberdeen.  From  Aberdeen  he  was  translated 
to  the  See  of  Glasgow,  and  had  so  much  influence  with 
the  Roman  Pontiff  that  he  managed  to  get  his  See 
created  into  an  Archbishopric,  and  thus  brought  to  a 
satisfactory  conclusion  a  long-standing  feud  with 
St.  Andrews.     It  was  he  who,  in  company  with  the 


262     WYCLIFFE  AND  THE  LOLLARDS 

Earl  of  Bothwell  and  Andrew  Forman,  prior  of  Pitten- 
weem,  negotiated  the  marriage  between  James  iv.,  whom 
he  induced  to  become  a  canon  of  his  cathedral,  and 
Henry  vn.'s  daughter  Margaret,  thus  laying  the  foun- 
dations of  the  union  between  England  and  Scotland. 
Along  with  Bothwell  he  was  godfather  to  the  royal 
prince  born  of  that  marriage,  who  did  not  survive  long ; 
and  after  a  life  full  of  strenuous  action  and  laborious 
toils  for  the  Church,  he  died  in  1508  while  on  a  journey 
to  the  Holy  Land.  The  matchless  crypt  in  Glasgow 
Cathedral  and  some  other  portions  bearing  his  name, 
— the  beautiful  minster  which  raises  its  lofty  spire 
above  the  place  where  Columba  and  Mungo  met  and 
together  sang  the  praises  of  God,  bear  testimony  to 
his  zeal  as  a  church-builder  and  adorner. 

This  first  Archbishop  of  Glasgow  was  a  zealous  son 
of  the  Church,  and  brought  the  Kyle  Lollards  before 
the  King  whose  marriage  he  had  arranged,  and  the 
council  over  which  he  had  strong  influence,  and  pressed 
for  a  prosecution.  King  James  iv.  was,  however,  a 
man  of  amiable  and  generous  character,  brave  and 
courageous,  though  fond  of  magnificence  and  pomp. 
His  wise  and  salutary  laws  won  for  him  the  country's 
whole-hearted  affection.  By  his  marriage  treaty,  peace 
was  concluded  with  England, — a  peace  which  lasted 
nine  years,  to  the  immense  benefit  of  Scotland,  which 
never  had  enjoyed  such  tranquillity  and  prosperity  as 
under  his  beneficent  rule.  Well  would  it  have  been 
had  he  kept  his  warlike,  chivalrous,  and  impetuous 
disposition  better  in  check  in  later  years,  for  it  was  due 
to  some  comparatively  small  acts  of  hostility  on  the 
part  of  his  brother-in-law  Henry  viil,  soon  after  his 
accession  to  the  English  throne,  that  that  beneficent 


LOLLARDISM   IN  SCOTLAND         263 

peace  was  broken,  Flodden  fought,  and  Scotland  robbed 
of  the  "  flowers  of  the  Forest,"  the  King  and  his  best 
nobility  being  among  the  slain. 

The  accusations  against  the  Lollards  in  1494  are 
thirty-four  -in  number,  as  taken  from  the  diocesan 
register,  and  these  really  show  us  what  the  orthodox 
Roman  clergy  of  the  day  believed  to  be  the  Lollard 
opinions.  Quintin  Kennedy  has  a  poem  "  In  Prais  of 
Aige,"  in  which  he  refers  to  the  spread  of  the  Lollard 
faith  in  Scotland  : 

"The  schip  of  faith,  tempestuous  wind  and  rane 
Dryvis  in  the  See  of  Lollerdry  that  blaws." 

And  in  his  poem  "  Flyting,"  Kennedy  calls  his  opponent, 
William  Dunbar,  "  Lampas  Lollardorum,"  and  a  judas, 
a  juggler,  a  pagan,  and  what-not. 

At  the  Lollard  trial,  James  rather  favoured  the 
accused,  some  of  whom  were  close  personal  friends,  and, 
like  Lady  Stair,  of  high  station.  Encouraged  by  this, 
the  Lollards  became  bolder,  and  argued  vigorously  with 
their  accusers,  and  finally  were  allowed  to  return  home 
with  the  admonition  to  beware  of  new  doctrines,  and  to 
rest  content  with  the  teaching  of  Holy  Church  in  all 
tilings.  Shortly  after,  while  pilgrimaging  to  the  Hcly 
Land, — a  sacred  and  meritorious  act  in  days  when 
such  an  enterprise  took  sometimes  years  to  accomplish, 
and  was  accompanied  with  horrible  risks  of  all  kinds, — 
Archbishop  Blackader  died,  and  for  thirty  years  after 
the  Kyle  Lollards  enjoyed  a  respite.  After  Flodden, 
and  during  the  minority  of  James  v.,  we  hear  of  no 
persecution  of  the  Lollards;  but  as  the  reforming 
movement  advanced  abroad  and  in  England,  it  seems 
almost  certain  that  Scottish  sympathisers  with  reform 


264     WYCLIFFE  AND  THE  LOLLARDS 

would  be  subjected  to  surveillance,  and  be  the  objects  of 
suspicion  and  hatred.  It  is  interesting  to  note  that  the 
Lady  Stair  whose  name  appears  in  the  list  of  those 
accused  before  the  King,  —  the  wife  of  William 
Dalrymple,  had  as  her  grandson  John  Dalrymple 
of  Stair,  who  was  among  the  very  first  of  the  Scottish 
gentry  to  make  open  profession  of  the  Reformed 
doctrines,  joining  the  Earls  of  Glencairn  and  Lennox 
when  they  appeared  in  arms,  in  1544,  at  Glasgow  Muir 
against  the  Earl  of  Arran,  the  Governor  of  Scotland, 
while  his  son  again,  James,  took  a  leading  part  in  the 
Scottish  Reformation  of  1560.1 

Portions  of  Wycliffe's  Bible  and  writings  must  have 
been  carried  north  early  in  the  fifteenth  century,  and 
the  seed  thus  sown  seems  never  to  have  been  destroyed ; 
but  it  is  still  more  interesting  to  know  that  a  MS. 
translation  of  Wycliffe's  New  Testament  into  the 
current  Scots  language  of  the  day  was  in  circulation  in 
Scotland  about  the  year  1520.2  This  written  volume, 
which  was  the  magazine  for  the  reforming  spirits  of 
that  age,  was  Purvey 's  Revision  of  Wycliffe's  New 
Testament,  and  was  translated  into  Scots  by  Murdoch 
Nisbet  of  Hardhill  in  the  Ayrshire  parish  of  Loudon, 
associated  in  recent  times  with  Robert  Burns  and 
Norman  Macleod.  Murdoch  Nisbet  some  years  before 
1500  came  to  profess  openly  his  adherence  to  the 
Lollard  doctrines,  and  rejected  the  specialties  of  Roman 
superstition,  and  with  some  others  had  to  flee  for  safety 
out  of  the  country.  While  in  exile  he  translated 
Wycliffe's  New  Testament  into  .Scots,  very  much  in  the 

1  Knox's  Reformation ;  Pinkerton's  History  of  Scotland,  ii.  418  ; 
John  Murray  Graham's  Annals  and  Correspondence  of  the  Viscount  and 
the  first  and  second  Earls  of  Stair,  i.  4.  2  See  note  on  page  325. 


LOLLARDISM   IN  SCOTLAND         265 

same  way  as  Knox  prepared  his  Confession  and  Creed 
sitting  at  the  galley-oar,  and  Bunyan  wrote  his  spiritual 
dream  in  Bedford  jail. 

Purvey's  second  transcription  of  Wycliffe's  New 
Testament,  published  in  1388,  four  years  after  Wycliffe's 
death,  was  Nisbet's  original ;  and  Dr.  Law,  who  edits 
the  translation  from  the  copy  in  possession  of  Lord 
Amherst  of  Hackney,  dates  it  at  1520.  At  a  later 
date  Nisbet  prefixed  an  address  copied  from  Luther's 
preface  to  his  German  New  Testament  (1522),  and  later 
still  added  Tindale's  prologue  to  the  Epistle  to  the 
Romans  (1525).  This  Scots  translation  of  Wycliffe- 
Purvey's  New  Testament  had  many  vicissitudes. 
Nisbet  built  finally,  after  his  return  to  Scotland,  a 
vault  below  his  house  at  Hardhill,  where  he  remained 
concealed  till  James  v.'s  death,  instructing  all  who 
came  to  him,  and  at  last  the  MS.  was  given  over  to  his 
descendants  as  a  precious  legacy.  After  the  manner 
of  the  vicissitudes  of  manuscripts,  Nisbet's  MS.  fell 
into  an  ordinary  bookseller's  hands,  and  was  bought 
by  Sir  Alexander  Boswell,  in  whose  collection  of 
Auchinleck  Papers  it  remained  until  1893,  when  it 
passed  into  the  possession  of  Lord  Amherst  of 
Hackney,  who  allowed  the  Scottish  Text  Society  to 
publish  it.1 

Murdoch  Nisbet  of  Loudon  was,  so  to  speak,  the  fore- 
runner of  the  reforming  and  covenanting  folks  of 
Ayrshire  in  later  times:  his  great-grandson,  John 
Nisbet,  was  one  of  Gustavus  Adolphus'  Scottish  officers, 

1  The  New  Testament  in  Scots,  being  Purvey's  revision  of  Wycliffe's 
version  turned  into  Scots  by  Murdoch  Nisbet,  c.  1520  :  edited  from  the 
unique  MS.  in  the  possession  of  Lord  Amherst  of  Hackney  by  T.  0.  Law, 
LL.D.,  vol.  i.  1901,  vol.  ii.  1903.     Blackwood,  Edinburgh. 


266     WYCLIFFE  AND  THE  LOLLARDS 

and  as  a  keen  Covenanter  commanded  a  troop  of  horse 
at  the  battle  of  Bothwell  Brig,  and  was  finally  executed 
in  1684  at  the  Edinburgh  Grassmarket. 

It  was  in  1901  that  the  late  learned  and  beloved 
Dr.  Law  of  the  Signet  Library,  Edinburgh,  published 
for  the  Scottish  Text  Society  this  interesting  MS. — 
the  only  version  of  the  New  Testament  in  the  Scots 
language  before  the  Reformation,  the  only  literary 
relic  of  the  Lollards  in  Scotland,  and  an  interesting 
link  with  continental  reforming  movements,  having 
been  translated  from  the  English  Wycliffe's  English 
translation  of  the  Vulgate,  and  carried  through  during 
Nisbet's  exile  abroad.  There  can  be  little  or  no  doubt 
that  the  mediaeval  Church  in  Scotland,  as  elsewhere, 
discountenanced  translations  of  the  Scripture  into  the 
vulgar  language  of  the  people.  Service-books  in  the 
vernacular  with  portions  of  Scripture  in  them  were 
tolerated,  but  not  encouraged  more  than  was  necessary. 
The  spread  of  the  Renaissance  spirit  in  the  fifteenth 
century  created  a  desire  in  Germany  and  the  Low 
Countries  for  the  Scripture  in  the  vernacular,  and  the 
Brethren  of  the  Common  Life  fostered  this  desire. 
A  version  in  German  of  the  Old  Testament  only,  and 
incomplete,  still  existing,  is  as  old  as  1400,  and  the 
earliest  French  vernacular  Scripture  is  later,  while  the 
earliest  Bohemian  one  dates  from  1417.  Older  versions 
in  the  Romana  and  Teutonic  languages  existed,  as  is 
proved  by  the  records  of  Church  councils.  Rellach  of 
Constance,  for  example,  made  a  translation  of  the  whole 
Bible  into  German  (1450-70)  although  he  was  a 
thoroughgoing  Roman  Catholic ;  yet  lie  felt  that  the 
power  needed  by  the  world  was  the  Scripture.  Other 
versions,  both  written  and  printed,  were  produced  by 


LOLLARDISM   IN  SCOTLAND         267 

men  who  were  friends  and  defenders  of  the  Church, 
though  none  ever  came  from  convent  printing-presses. 
The  Brethren  of  the  Common  Life,  the  Waldensians, 
the  German  and  Bohemian  reforming  parties,  had  all 
their  vernacular  translations,  which  were  used  both 
by  the  friends  and  foes  of  the  Church  until  finally 
supplanted  by  Luther's  great  Bible  to  a  large  extent. 

1520  is  given  as  the  probable  date  of  Murdoch 
Nisbet's  Scots  translation  of  Wycliffe's  New  Testament. 
Where  he  made  it  is  uncertain,  possibly  in  England, 
possibly  in  Germany  or  the  Low  Countries,  his  refer- 
ence to  Luther's  prologue  to  the  Bible  rather  favouring 
his  exile  in  Germany,  where  he  would  find  many 
sympathisers  and  Lollard  friends.  After  Nisbet  there 
appears  another  prominent  Lollard,  John  Andrew 
Duncan  of  Airdree  in  Fifeshire  and  of  Maynar  in 
Stirlingshire.  Taken  prisoner  at  Flodden,  he  was 
brought  to  Yorkshire,  and  lodged  with  one  Burnet, 
a  relative  of  his  mother,  a  strong  Lollard.  Burnet 
adopted  his  Lollard  views,  and  returned  to  Scotland, 
where,  after  a  second  exile,  he  settled,  and  at  his  own 
residence  promulgated  Lollard  views,  and  it  is  said 
found  many  sympathisers  in  Fifeshire,  owing  to  the 
fact  that  English  Lollards  and  German  Hussites  were 
students  at  St.  Andrews  in  the  fifteenth  century,  and 
thus  spread  and  continued  the  Wycliffe  tradition.1 

If  any  Scotsman  helped  by  his  writings  to  advance 
the  cause  of  religious  reform  in  the  land,  it  was  Sir 
David  Lindsay  of  the  Mount,  who  in  his  plays  and 
satires  prepared  the  way  for  the  events  of  1560. 

His  Testament  and  Complaynt  of  the  Papyngo  are 

1  Principal  Lindsay's  "  Literary  Relic  of  Scottish  Lollartly  "  in  Scottish 
Historical  Bevitw.  i.  270. 


268     WYCLIFFE  AND  THE  LOLLARDS 

a  direct  echo  of  Lollard  opinions,  mingled,  no  doubt, 
with  the  Lutheran  ideas  which,  through  the  spread 
of  Luther's  works  in  Scotland,  had  become  common 
property.  Lindsay  carries  forward  the  Lollard  spirit 
and  links  it  with  the  Reformation. 

Another  Lollard  link  is  indicated  by  Wodrow  in 
his  History  of  the  Sufferings  of  the  Church  of 
Scotland,  where  he  relates  how  the  Gordons  of 
Earlston  "  used  to  entertain  the  disciples  of  Wycliffe, 
and  had  a  New  Testament  in  the  vulgar  tongue, 
which  they  used  in  reading  at  meetings  in  the  woods 
about  Earlstoun  House." 

And  so  link  by  link  the  Lollard  influence  in  Scot- 
land can  be  traced  back  to  the  very  days  of  Wycliffe 
himself,  when  Scottish  students  flocked  to  Balliol  to 
see  and  hear  the  man  who  became  known  afterwards 
as  "  the  morning  star  of  the  Reformation." 

On  the  eve  of  the  Reformation,  Scotland  was  ready, 
indeed,  for  a  cleansing  of  the  temple.  The  highest 
ecclesiastical  offices  were  often  given  to  laymen  and 
even  to  children,  as  in  the  case  of  the  Archbishopric 
of  St.  Andrews,  the  highest  spiritual  office  in  the  land, 
— the  primacy  of  the  kingdom, — which,  in  1503,  was 
bestowed  on  the  King's  natural  son,  a  boy  of  eight 
years  of  age.  A  letter  is  still  extant  in  which  the 
King  thanks  the  Pope  for  confirming  this  nomination. 
The  wealthiest  offices  in  the  Church  were  thus  dis- 
posed of,  with  the  result  that  discipline,  order,  and 
government  were  relaxed,  and  the  people  looked  with 
scorn  on  the  disorderly  state  .  of  the  House  of  God. 
The  aspiration  after  reform  made  itself  heard  over 
and  over  again.  Patrick  Hamilton,  a  youth  of  royal 
descent,   appointed   Abbot  of    Fearn   at  the    age    of 


LOLLARDISM   IN  SCOTLAND         269 

twenty-three,  who,  going  abroad,  met  with  Luther, 
Melanchthon,  Lambert,  and  other  Reformers,  gave  forth 
his  work  on  gospel  belief  which  bears  the  name  of 
Patrick's  Places — simply  a  repetition  of  the  old  Lollard 
teaching.     - 

On  28th  February  1528  he  was  arraigned  before 
the  bishops  and  clergy  in  St.  Andrews,  accused  of 
holding  Luther's  views,  and  finally  burned  before  the 
Old  College.  For  doing  this  the  University  of  St. 
Andrews  was  praised  by  the  University  of  Louvain, 
and  exhorted  to  continue  its  good  work  of  extirpating 
heresy,  and  more  especially  of  destroying  books  con- 
taining these  doctrines.  Burning  books  and  burning 
people  was  a  childish  course  to  adopt;  for,  as  with 
the  heather  on  the  Scottish  mountain-side,  the  burning 
only  made  the  growth  stronger,  richer,  and  fuller. 
This  was  abundantly  the  case  in  Scotland  as  the 
^result  of  Hamilton's  martyrdom,  for  more  converts  to 
the  cause  of  reform  was  the  result.  When  the  burning 
of  other  individuals  was  suggested,  one  John  Lindsay, 
who  knew  the  prelate  well,  and  was  a  bystander 
at  the  martyr's  pyre,  said  to  Archbishop  Beaton — 
"  My  lord,  if  ye  burn  any  more,  except  ye  follow  my 
counsel  ye  will  utterly  destroy  yourselves.  If  ye 
will  burn  them,  let  them  be  burned  in  cellars,  for  the 
smoke  of  Master  Patrick  Hamilton  hath  infected  as 
many  as  it  blew  upon." 

It  was  a  somewhat  remarkable  fact  that  not  only 
did  Patrick  Hamilton's  burning  cause  people  generally 
in  Scotland  to  inquire  into  the  nature  of  the  opinions 
which  so  drastic  a  remedy  was  necessary,  but  that 
even  the  King's  private  confessor  became  a  convert 
to  the  Lollard  ideas.     During  the  Lent  following  the 


270    WYCLIFFE  AND  THE  LOLLARDS 

burning,  Alexander  Seaton,  the  royal  confessor,  preached 
a  course  of  sermons  in  which  he  laid  stress  on  the 
necessity  of  faith  in  Christ,  very  much  after  the  style 
of  St.  Anselm's  "  Cur  Deus  Homo,"  the  need  of  personal 
holiness  and  repentance,  while  the  staple  doctrines  of 
the  Roman  Church  —  pilgrimages,  purgatory,  saint- 
worship,  and  the  like,  were  absent  from  his  discourses. 
Suspected  of  heresy,  he  became  the  object  of  Arch- 
bishop Beaton's  enmity.  That  prelate,  however,  could 
not  proceed  against  him  without  the  King's  assent, 
and  Seaton  had  reproved  King  James  faithfully  for 
his  dissolute  and  irregular  life,  admonitions  which 
that  Sovereign  resented.  Feeling  instinctively  that 
the  King  would  follow  the  archbishop's  advice,  Seaton 
made  good  his  escape  to  Berwick,  and  wrote  from 
thence  offering  to  return  if  a  fair  trial  were  promised 
him.  No  answer  came,  and  he  fled  to  London,  and 
was  admitted  into  the  Duke  of  Suffolk's  family. 

The  Reformation  was  now  fairly  under  weigh  in 
England,  the  Act  of  Supremacy  being  finally  passed 
in  1534,  this  being  followed  by  the  suppression  of  the 
monasteries  in  1535.  Latimer's  influence  was  at  its 
height,  while  Tyndale's  New  Testament  (1526)  and 
Coverdale's  Bible  (1535)  were  spreading  the  know- 
ledge of  Scripture  all  over  the  South.  Scotland  was 
troubled  with  civil  commotions,  and  these  diverted 
the  attention  of  the  Roman  prelates  to  a  considerable 
extent  from  the  work  of  suppressing  Lollard  ism. 
Still,  from  Hamilton's  burning  onwards,  for  ten  years 
the  work  of  crushing  the  new  views  went  on  spas- 
modically and  sporadically,  several  being  put  to  death, 
while  many  had  to  flee  to  foreign  lands.  Henry 
Forrest,  one  of  the  inferior  clergy,  was   suspected  of 


LOLLARDISM   IN   SCOTLAND         271 

Lollard  sympathies,  and  a  friar  called  Laing  was 
appointed  to  hear  his  confession,  which  practically 
resulted  in  his  declaration  that  he  thought  Patrick 
Hamilton's  destruction  was  wrong,  as  he  was  a  good 
man.  Laing  broke  the  seal  of  confession,  since  Forrest 
had  confessed  himself  a  heretic,  and  thereupon  the 
latter  was  tried,  condemned,  and  burned  at  the  north 
side  of  St.  Andrews'  Abbey  Church,  one  of  the  chief 
counts  against  him  being  that  he  had  an  English 
New  Testament  in  his  possession. 

Many  others  were  imprisoned,  fined,  and  forced  to 
recant,  among  them  a  Leith  woman  who,  in  the  labours 
of  childbirth,  instead  of  asking  the  Virgin's  help 
called  upon  Christ  to  come  to  her  aid.  In  August 
1534,  Norman  Gourlay  and  David  Stratton  were 
charged  with  denying  purgatory,  papal  supremacy, 
and  other  views.  Gourlay  was  tried  before  the  King, 
who  took  a  merciful  view  of  the  case ;  but  the  prelates 
dissuaded  him  from  granting  pardon,  declaring  that 
it  was  outside  his  powers  to  do  so.  Stratton's  offence 
was  in  regard  to  the  payment  of  tithe;  when  the 
vicar  came  to  take  his  tithe  out  of  Stratton's  fishing- 
wherry,  the  latter  said  that  the  tithe  ought  to  be 
taken  where  the  stock  grew,  and  accordingly  he 
threw  the  fish  into  the  sea  and  bade  the  vicar  find 
his  tithes  there.  These  two  men  were  publicly  burned 
on  ground  between  Edinburgh  and  Leith,  in  1534, 
the  intention  being  to  strike  awe  into  the  Fifeshire 
people,  many  of  whom  were  suspected  of  reforming 
leanings. 

The  Archbishop  of  St.  Andrews,  James  Beaton,  died 
in  1539,  and  the  Pope,  who  viewed  with  alarm  the 
triumph  of  the  Reformation  in  England,  and  dreaded 


272     WYCLIFFE  AND  THE  LOLLARDS 

a  repetition  of  the  same  disaster  in  Scotland,  which 
for  long  had  been  "  the  special  daughter  of  the  Roman 
See,"  appointed  David  Beaton,  the  previous  arch- 
bishop's nephew,  to  succeed  him  in  St.  Andrews  as 
primate  of  Scotland.  He  was  a  cool,  deliberate,  cruel 
character,  and  the  hope  of  the  Pope  was  that  by  direct 
acts  of  oppression  the  movement  would  be  killed.  One 
of  the  first  to  be  brought  to  the  new  prelate's  tribunal 
was  Sir  John  Borthwick,  who  was  charged  with 
holding  Lollard  and  Gospeller  views,  and  with  having 
in  his  possession  an  English  New  Testament.  Borthwick 
managed  to  get  into  hiding  and  reached  England  at 
last,  his  views  being  publicly  condemned  at  St. 
Andrews,  and  his  effigy  burned,  since  the  original 
was  off  to  the  South.  Strange  to  say,  his  relative 
John,  the  fifth  Lord  Borthwick,  opposed  the  Reforma- 
tion in  1560,  and  was  Queen  Mary's  friend  and  helper, 
shielding  her  and  Bothwell  in  his  beautiful  twin- 
towered  Borthwick  Castle  by  the  sweetly  -  flowing 
Tyne,  and  surrounded  by  the  green,  undulating 
Moorfoot  Hills.  Though  he  was  a  staunch  supporter 
of  the  "ancient  religion,"  his  servants,  who  seem  to 
have  had  sympathies  in  the  opposite  direction,  seized 
the  person  of  William  Langlands,  a  macer  from  St. 
Andrews,  who  arrived  with  letters  of  excommunica- 
tion of  Lord  Borthwick  on  account  of  the  contumacy 
of  certain  witnesses  of  his  in  a  lawsuit.  The  unhappy 
bacularius  arrived  while  the  Castle  folks  were 
celebrating  the  sport  of  the  Abbot  of  Unreason,  and 
the  primate's  officer  was  twice  ducked  in  the  river; 
and  then,  having  been  sufficiently  bathed,  had  refresh- 
ments given  him  after  his  cold  bath,  the  letters  of 
excommunication  being   torn  to   pieces,  steeped   in   a 


LOLLARDISM   IN  SCOTLAND         273 

bowl  of  wine,  and  forced  upon  the  unwilling  apparitor, 
who  had  to  eat  and  drink  the  nauseous  preparation, 
to  which  a  stimulating  touch  was  added  by  the  Abbot 
of  Unreason  informing  him  that  if  any  more  such 
letters  arrived  they  should  "  a'  gang  the  same  gait." 

Sir  John  Borthwick's  escape  caused  the  new  Beaton 
considerable  indignation,  and  he  proceeded  with  even 
greater  firmness  against  other  suspects.  Dean  Thomas 
Forrest,  vicar  of  Dollar  and  a  canon  of  St.  Colomb, 
was  one  of  the  first  to  be  brought  to  book,  and  mainly 
because  he  preached  every  Sunday  to  the  people  from 
the  Gospel  or  Epistle  for  the  day.  It  must  be  remem- 
bered that  the  parish  priests  and  even  bishops  had 
given  up  preaching  almost  entirely,  and  confined 
themselves  to  the  celebration  of  the  Church's  rites 
and  ceremonies — the  pictorial  teaching  of  the  Church. 
The  only  preachers  were  the  friars ;  and  their  addresses, 
as  already  indicated,  were  strange  medleys  of  sacred 
and  secular  lore,  amusing  legends  and  stories,  and 
jokes  intended  to  amuse  the  people  and  tickle  the 
mob.  Mr.  Baring -Gould  has  in  his  Post  -  mediceval 
Preachers  furnished  many  laughable  examples  of  the 
rs'  discourses.  In  preaching  the  simple  gospel 
to  his  flock,  gathered  together  at  Dollar  under  the 
shadow  of  the  rolling  Ochil  Hills,  and  close  by  Castle 
:pbell  or  Castle  Gloom,  with  the  two  streams  Care 
and  Sorrow  rippling  past  it,  Dean  Forrest  declared 
the  riches  of  Christ's  gospel  in  simple  language  and 
with  telling  effect.  Summoned  by  his  bishop  (Dunkeld), 
li.  was  asked  why  he  persisted  in  preaching  Sunday 
by  Sunday.  The  Bishop  of  Dunkeld  thus  addressed 
him — '  My  joy  [beloved]  dean  Thomas,  I  am  informed 
ich  the  epistle  or  the  gospel  every  Sunday 
18 


274    WYCLIFFE  AND  THE  LOLLARDS 

to  your  parishioners,  and  that  you  take  not  the  best 
cow  nor  the  uppermost  cloth  from  your  parishioners, 
which  is  very  prejudicial  to  other  Churchmen.  There- 
fore, my  joy  dean  Thomas,  I  would  you  took  your  cow 
and  your  uppermost  cloth  as  other  Churchmen  do. 
Also  it  is  too  much  to  preach  every  Sunday:  for  in 
so  doing  you  may  make  the  people  think  that  we 
should  preach  likewise.  It  is  enough  for  you  when 
you  find  any  good  epistle  or  any  good  gospel  that 
setteth  forth  the  liberty  [privileges]  of  the  holy 
Church,  to  preach  on  that  and  let  the  rest  be."  Dean 
Forrest  replied, — "That  with  respect  to  the  cow  and 
the  cloth,  himself  and  his  parishioners  were  agreed : 
and  as  for  preaching  every  Sunday,  he  could  wish 
that  his  lordship  did  the  like."  The  bishop  replied — 
"  Nay,  nay,  dean  Thomas,  let  that  be,  for  we  are  not 
ordained  to  preach."  Forrest  answered — "Your  lord- 
ship biddeth  me  preach  when  I  find  any  good  Epistle 
or  good  Gospel :  truly,  my  lord,  I  have  read  the  New 
Testament  and  the  Old  and  all  the  Epistles  and 
Gospels,  and  among  them  all  I  could  never  find  an 
evil  Epistle  or  an  evil  Gospel:  but  if  your  lordship 
will  show  me  one  that  is  evil,  I  will  shun  it."  To 
which  the  bishop  gave  the  famous  retort — "I  thank 
God  that  I  never  knew  what  Old  and  New  Testaments 
were.  I  will  know  nothing  but  my  portass  and  my 
pontifical.  Go  your  way  and  let  alone  these  fantasies 
or  you  will  repent  it."  Forrest  said — "I  trust  my 
cause  is  Just  in  the  presence  of  God,  and  therefore  I 
am  not  anxious  as  to  consequences."  Soon  after,  he 
was  summoned  before  Cardinal  Beaton,  condemned, 
and  burned  on  the  Castle  Hill  of  Edinburgh  along 
with  two  friars  named  Kelow  and  Bevarage,  a  priest 


LOLLARDISM   IN  SCOTLAND         275 

of  Stirling  named  Sympson,  and  a  Stirling  gentleman 
named  Foster,  all  of  whom  made  profession  of  their 
adherence  to  the  Lollard  beliefs. 

About  the  same  time  the  Archbishop  of  Glasgow 
condemned  two  others  to  death,  Russel  and  Kennedy. 
Kennedy  was  a  youth  of  eighteen,  and  was  about 
to  recant  when  he  saw  the  preparations  for  his  exe- 
cution being  made;  but  he  was  not  allowed  to  do 
so.  His  last  words  were  —  "0  Eternal  God,  how 
wonderful  is  that  love  and  mercy  which  Thou  bearest 
to  mankind,  and  to  me,  the  most  miserable  wretch 
above  all  others.  For  even  now,  when  I  would  have 
denied  Thee  and  Thy  Son,  our  Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus 
Christ,  my  only  Saviour,  and  so  have  cast  myself  into 
everlasting  damnation,  Thou  by  Thine  own  hand  hast 
pulled  me  from  the  very  bottom  of  hell,  and  made  me 
to  feel  that  heavenly  comfort  which  takes  from  me 
that  ungodly  fear  wherewith  before  I  was  oppressed. 
Now  I  defy  death :  do  what  ye  please :  I  praise  my 
God  I  am  ready!"  The  inquisitors  disputed  with 
Russel,  and  made  mockery  of  his  beliefs ;  to  which  he 
replied — "This  is  your  hour  and  the  power  of  dark- 
- :  now  you  sit  as  judges,  and  we  stand  wrongfully 
condemned ;  but  the  day  cometh  which  will  show  our 
innocence,  and  you  shall  see  your  own  blindness,  to 
your  everlasting  confusion:  go  forward,  and  fulfil  the 
measure  of  your   iniquity." 

Hearing  so  bold  a  confession  from  one  who  feared 
God  and  knew  no  other  fear,  a  fear  which  strengthens 
as  the  fear  of  man  weakens,  the  archbishop  declared 
that  he  thought  these  persecutions  did  more  harm 
than  good,  and  seemed  disposed  to  pardon  these  two 
men;  bat  lie  was  threatened  by  his  clergy,  that  if  he 


276     WYCLIFFE  AND  THE  LOLLARDS 

allowed  them  to  escape  he  would  be  reported  to 
Cardinal  Beaton  ;  and  accordingly  they  were  executed, 
Russel  encouraging  Kennedy,  and  saying — "Brother, 
fear  not;  more  mighty  is  He  that  is  in  us  than  he 
that  is  in  the  world.  The  pain  we  shall  suffer  will 
be  short  and  light;  but  our  joy  and  consolation  will 
never  end.  Let  us  strive  to  enter  in  unto  our  Master 
and  Saviour  by  the  same  strait  way  that  He  hath 
taken  before  us.  Death  cannot  destroy  us;  for  it 
is  destroyed  already  by  Him  for  whose  sake  we 
suffer." 

The  King,  situated  as  he  was  between  France  and 
England,  within  a  circle  of  traditional  policy,  in  deal- 
ing with  each  could  take  but  one  course  in  the  Re- 
formation struggle,  and  that  entire  submission  to 
the  lead  of  Cardinal  Beaton  and  the  Queen.  The 
Lollard  persecution  is  hinted  at  in  the  item — "  deliverit 
to  twa  pure  wemen  for  ij  ky  the  tyme  that  the 
man  was  byrnt  in  Cowpar ;  to  messenger  to  pas  and 
serche  thair  gudis  quhilkis  war  obiurit  and  declirt 
heretikis  in  Edinburgh  and  Stirling."  Two  Lollards 
also  were  burned  at  the  west  end  of  Glasgow 
Cathedral. 

Following  upon  this,  Beaton  received  authority 
from  the  King  to  proceed  still  more  rigorously,  and 
a  list  of  suspected  persons,  numbering  three  hundred 
and  sixty,  including  many  prominent  nobles  and 
gentlemen,  and  notably  the  Earl  of  Arran,  the  pre- 
sumptive heir  to  James  v.'s  crown,  was  drawn  up 
with  a  view  to  their  trial  for  heresy.  Political  com- 
plications, however,  deferred  further  drastic  action,  as 
the  ambitious  and  high-handed  policy  of  Beaton 
brought  about  that  disastrous  war  with  England,  the 


LOLLARDISM  IN  SCOTLAND         277 

end  of  which  was  the  death  of  the  King.  His  Queen, 
Mary  of  Guise,  had  just  given  birth  to  her  who  after- 
wards became  Mary  Queen  of  Scots,  and  the  sorely 
troubled  and  bitterly  disappointed  Sovereign  passed 
away.  Solway  Moss  broke  his  heart;  and  when  he 
heard  of  his  daughter's  birth,  he  took  a  melancholy 
view  of  the  future,  declaring  of  his  crown  that  "  It 
came  with  a  lass,  and  it  will  go  with  a  lass."  "  The 
King  of  the  Poor,"  as  his  humbler  subjects  styled  him 
— "The  Gudeman  of  Ballangeich,"  as  he  was  called 
from  his  disguised  wanderings  through  his  realm, 
James  V.  was  the  victim  of  circumstances,  and  a  prey 
to  misfortune. 

After  the  death-scene  at  Falkland  Palace,  Cardinal 
Beaton  strove  for  political  supremacy,  but  he  was  un- 
successful, and  the  Earl  of  Arran  was  made  Regent, 
who  brought  persecution  to  a  standstill,  and  eventually 
gave  permission  to  "  every  man  to  read  the  translation 
of  the  Old  and  New  Testaments."  For  a  moment 
fortune  favoured  the  cause  of  Reform,  and  many  pro- 
fessed to  have  possessed  and  read  the  Scripture  in 
secret  for  years,  with  a  view  to  being  favourably 
regarded  by  Arran.  The  Regent,  however,  lacked 
courage,  firmness,  and  constancy,  and  Beaton  again 
became  the  chief  power  in  Scotland,  Arran  consenting 
to  his  measures.  A  great  increase  of  heresy  was 
complained  of,  and  in  January  1544,  Cardinal  Beaton, 
the  Earl  of  Arran,  and  others  arrived  at  Perth  and 
began  another  heresy-hunt.  Robert  Lambe,  William 
Anderson,  ami  fewo  others  were  charged  with  false 
doctrine  and  practices,  the  only  apparent  fault  with 
them  netting  to  have  been  that  thoy  regaled  them- 
selves  with    a    goose   on   Halloween;   and   yet   they 


278     WYCLIFFE  AND  THE  LOLLARDS 

were  executed  as  heretics ;  while  the  wife  of  a  Perth 
burgess,  who  at  childbirth  invoked  Christ  and  not 
the  Virgin,  and  who  also  broke  her  fast  like  the  pre- 
ceding, was  condemned.  She  wished  to  die  with  her 
husband,  but  this  last  consideration  was  refused ;  and 
though  she  was  nursing  her  newborn  infant,  she  was 
taken  down  to  the  water  and  ruthlessly  drowned. 
"  I  will  not "  she  said  to  her  husband,  "  bid  you  good- 
night, for  we  shall  suddenly  meet  with  joy  in  the 
kingdom  of  heaven." 

But  the  most  outstanding  victim  of  the  persecuting 
movement  of  this  period  was  George  Wishart,  a  learned 
and  pious  scholar,  who  in  1540  was  ordered  by  the 
Bishop  of  Brechin  to  leave  Scotland  for  teaching 
the  Greek  Testament  in  Montrose.  He  escaped  first 
to  Germany,  and  then  found  refuge  in  Ben'et  College 
in  Cambridge,  where  he  was  known,  according  to 
Tylney,  a  scholar  there,  as  "  a  man,  modest,  temperate, 
fearing  God,  hating  covetousness,  for  his  charity  never 
had  end :  he  forebore  one  meal  in  three,  and  one  day 
in  four  for  the  most  part.  He  lay  hard,  upon  a  puff 
of  straw,  and  coarse  new  canvas  sheets,  which,  when 
he  changed,  he  gave  away.  He  loved  me  tenderly, 
and  I  him  for  my  age,  effectually.  Oh,  that  the  Lord 
had  left  him  to  me,  his  poor  boy,  that  he  might  have 
finished  that  he  had  begun."  There  was  at  this 
period  in  Cambridge  an  earnest  band  of  students  who 
took  life  earnestly,  rising  daily  at  four  or  five  and 
reading  the  Scriptures  and  praying  till  six,  their 
dinner  consisting  of  "a  parmy  piece  of  beef  among 
four,  a  little  pottage  made  of  the  broth,  with  salt  and 
oatmeal,  and  nothing  else."  After  several  hours  of 
study  they  had  an  ascetic  supper,  and  then  from  six 


LOLLARDISM   IN  SCOTLAND         279 

till  ten  resumed  their  studies,  "  and  being  without  fire, 
would  walk  or  run  up  and  down  half  an  hour  to  get 
their  feet  warm,  when  they  went  to  bed."  Wishart 
was  in  his  element  in  such  society  and  loved  it,  but 
in  1544  he  saw  his  way  clear  to  return  to  Scotland, 
where  he  began  to  preach  against  Roman  corruptions 
and  abuses,  drawing  large  crowds  and  making  a  deep 
impression.  Cardinal  Beaton  was  enraged  at  his 
boldness,  and  resolved  on  his  annihilation.  Dundee 
was  visited  by  the  plague,  and  Wishart  stood  by  the 
people,  visiting  the  sick  and  comforting  the  sorrowful. 
Assassination  was  attempted,  a  friar  with  a  dagger 
under  his  habit  even  threatening  him  as  he  came 
down  from  the  pulpit.  He  next  visited  Montrose  and 
Edinburgh,  and  was  at  last  arrested  at  Ormiston  and 
brought  to  St.  Andrews  a  prisoner, 

Cardinal  Beaton  and  the  Archbishop  of  Glasgow  had 
been  at  variance  for  some  time,  chiefly  owing  to  the 
old-standing  and  deep-seated  jealousy  between  the  two 
Sees,  but  over  Wishart  they  struck  hands  in  friendly 
agreement.  On  1st  February  1545,  Wishart  was 
brought  to  the  Church  of  St.  Andrews,  where  the  sub- 
prior  of  the  Abbey  preached  on  the  wheat  and  the 
tares  (St.  Matt.  xiii.  24),  and  urged  the  destruction  of 
heretical  tares.  Wishart  was  then  placed  in  the  pulpit, 
and  a  list  of  charges  against  him  was  read.  He  knelt 
down  and  asked  help  from  Heaven,  and  then  rose  and 
asked  to  be  allowed  to  declare  his  beliefs;  but  this 
the  prelates  declined  to  allow.  The  accusations  were 
again  read  over,  but  as  soon  as  Wishart  attempted  to 
reply  he  was  insolently  silenced.  He  then  declared 
that  he  had  only  exhorted  men  to  follow  Christ  the 
only  Mediator,  and  challenged   his  accusers  to  prove 


280     WYCLIFFE  AND  THE  LOLLARDS 

the  doctrine  of  purgatory.  Beaton  then  ordered  the 
fire  to  be  prepared,  and  Wishart  was  sent  to  the 
Castle  till  all  was  ready.  The  sub-prior  had  a  con- 
ference with  him  there,  and,  bursting  into  tears,  asked 
if  he  would  receive  the  Communion,  which  Wishart 
said  he  would  be  glad  to  do  in  both  kinds.  The  sub- 
prior  then  went  to  Beaton  and  declared  Wishart  to 
be  an  innocent  man,  and  asked  whether  he  might 
receive  the  sacrament,  but  this  was  refused.  At 
breakfast,  Wishart,  whom  the  captain  of  the  Castle 
had  invited  to  join  in,  spoke  about  the  death  and 
sufferings  of  Christ,  and  exhorted  them  all  to  love 
and  good  works.  Thereafter  two  executioners  arrived, 
fastened  bags  of  powder  about  him,  and  bound  his 
hands.  The  stake  was  erected  at  the  west  gate  of  the 
Castle  near  the  priory,  and  the  windows  of  the  Castle 
overlooked  the  tragic  scene.  The  cardinal  and  other 
prelates  sat  at  the  windows,  which  were  richly 
decorated ;  and  the  Castle  guns  were  charged,  lest  the 
people  should  attempt  a  rescue.  Two  friars  urged 
him  to  pray  to  the  Virgin,  but  Wishart  only  called 
upon  God  for  His  benediction ;  and,  having  prayed  for 
his  accusers,  the  executioner  begged  his  forgiveness 
and  lit  the  pyre.  "  This  fire,"  he  said,  "  torments  my 
body,  but  no  wise  abates  my  spirit.  He  who  in  such 
state  from  that  high  place  feedeth  his  eyes  with  my 
torments,  within  a  few  days  shall  be  hanged  out  at 
the  same  window  with  as  much  ignominy  as  he  now 
leaneth  there  with  pride." 

Beaton  thought  this  terrible  example  would  check 
the  Reform  movement;  but  popular  disgust  was  the 
result,  and  Beaton  was  put  to  death,  and  his  body 
hung  out  of   the  Castle  window  as  Wishart  had  pro- 


LOLLARDISM   IN   SCOTLAND         281 

phesied.  The  Reform  movement  received  an  immense 
impetus :  political  considerations  and  a  growing  desire 
for  liberty  added  additional  force  to  a  tendency  already 
strong  and  determined,  and  finally  Knox  appeared  as 
its  champion  and  leader.  Knox  was  the  child  of 
Wishart,  and  carried  forward  the  movement  for  civil 
and  religious  liberty  to  triumphant  success.  The  per- 
secuting section  of  the  Roman  Church  thought  that  by 
wringing  the  neck  of  the  cock  they  would  prevent 
the  dawning  of  the  day ;  but  the  day  came  in  spite  of 
all  the  attempts  to  keep  the  sky  black  and  the  clock 
at  midnight. 

When  a  Pope  dies,  his  chamberlain,  in  presence  of 
the  College  of  Cardinals,  taps  his  head  thrice  with  a 
small  hammer  of  ivory  and  gold.  The  act  is  performed 
to  make  sure  that  he  is  really  dead.  When  Luther 
with  his  hammer  drove  the  nails  into  the  church  door 
of  WTurtemberg,  it  was  to  waken  the  Church  from  its 
deadly  sleep ;  and  that  hammer  was  originally  forged 
at  Lutterworth,  and  the  reverberations  and  echoes  of 
its  strokes  have  gone  round  the  earth.  From  the 
turretted  steeple  of  Lutterworth  came  the  gentle  yet 
strong  voice  which  found  its  echo  of  alarm  under  the 
dome  of  St.  Peter's.  The  ashes  which  were  sent  igno- 
miniously  down  the  Swift,  in  the  course  of  their  world- 
wide dissemination  floated  up  the  Tiber,  and  were 
washed  on  to  the  shore  at  the  Castle  of  St.  Angelo. 
Between  Wycliffe  and  Luther  there  is  the  relations)  dp 
of  ancestor  and  offspring,  and  the  spirit  of  the  two 
.  so  different  in  many  respects,  and  separated  by 
generations,  was  wonderfully  similar  in  its  courage, 
faith,  and  hope;  for  while  Wycliffe  in  his  hour  of 
ness  could   say — "  I   shall   not  die,  but  live,  and 


282     WYCLIFFE  AND  THE  LOLLARDS 

declare  the  evil  works  of  the  friars,"  Luther's  deter- 
mined fortitude  was  not  behind  it  when  he  declared 
that  he  would  pursue  his  course  of  reform  though 
there  were  as  many  devils  arrayed  against  him  as 
there  were  tiles  on  the  roofs  of  Worms. 


CHAPTER   III 

LOLLARDISM   ON  THE  CONTINENT 

Curious  as  was  the  spread  of  Lollardism  in  Scotland 
the  diffusion  of  the  Wycliffe  opinions  on  the  Continent, 
and  more  particularly  in  Bohemia,  was  even  more 
remarkable.  Practically  the  same  diffusive  forces 
were  at  work  in  both  places,  namely,  students  from 
both  countries  studying  at  Oxford,  the  headquarters 
of  Wyclifnsm,  and  carrying  home  with  them  the  fresh 
inspirations  of  the  university  whose  motto  was  and 
still  is — "Dominus  illuminatio  mea,"  along  with  the 
enlightened  religious  faith  which  found  its  choicest 
nursery  by  the  Isis.  In  1382,  to  revert  to  the  initial 
links  between  England  and  Bohemia,  Richard  II.,  king 
of  England,  married  Princess  Anne  of  Bohemia,  who, 
coming  to  England,  embraced  the  Lollard  doctrines 
with  devout  and  whole-hearted  enthusiasm.  Her  life 
as  Queen  of  England  only  lasted  twelve  short  years,  for 
she  passed  away  in  1394,  leaving  behind  her  a  fragrant 
memory.  She  had  been  the  daughter  of  the  Emperor 
Charles  IV.,  and  was  the  sister  of  the  "good  King 
Wenceslaus  "  of  Bohemia,  whose  Christmas-tide  charity 
and  compassion  are  celebrated  in  the  Yule-tide  carol 
still  sung  amid  the  holly -covered  pillars  of  our  churches, 
when  the  snow  is  on  the  ground  and  "  the  Christmas 
bells  from  hill  to  hill  answer  each  other  in  the  mi 

283 


284     WYCLIFFE  AND  THE  LOLLARDS 

Richard  buried  her  in  Westminster  Abbey,  for  his 
own  heart  was  in  Westminster.  His  coronation  had 
taken  place  in  the  Abbey  with  unsurpassed  splendour, 
and  was  distinguished  by  the  creation  of  the  "  Knights 
of  the  Bath,"  ever  since  associated  with  coronations. 
It  was  he  who  took  Edward  the  Confessor  as  his 
patron  saint,  and  rebuilt  the  great  northern  entrance 
of  the  Abbey  for  ever  associated  with  St.  Edward's 
shrine,  besides  building  Westminster  Hall.  Richard's 
affection  for  his  Bohemian  bride  was  such  that  when 
she  died  at  the  Palace  of  Sheen,  he  not  only  abandoned 
and  cursed  the  place,  but  actually  pulled  it  down  to 
the  ground.  Her  funeral  was  a  pageant  of  mournful 
magnificence,  and  Froissart  tells  us  that  abundance 
of  wax  was  brought  from  Flanders  to  make  torches,  and 
that  the  illumination  was  so  great  as  to  be  dazzling. 
The  tomb  now  pointed  out  in  the  Abbey  as  that  of 
Richard  and  Queen  Anne  is  a  coarse  copy  of  Edward 
iii.'s,  and  fills  up  the  whole  large  end  bay  in  that 
royal  chapel  where  the  suns  of  empire  rise  and  set. 
The  names  of  all  the  artificers — all  citizens  of  London 
— have  been  preserved,  and  the  cost  of  the  erection 
was  £10,000,  and  the  date  of  its  completion  1397. 
The  King  and  Queen  are  represented  in  a  recumbent 
position  ;  and  orginally  their  right  hands  were  tenderly 
clasped,  but  both  arms  have  been  stolen.  The  effigies 
are  of  mixed  metal  richly  gilded,  and  are  certainly 
portraits  of  the  loving  royal  pair. 

Among  the  other  badges  and  patterns  stamped  over 
the  tomb  are  the  two-headed  eagle  and  the  lion  of 
Bohemia,  while  on  the  inside  of  the  wooden  canopy 
over  the  tomb  are  painted  pictures  of  the  Trinity,  the 
Virgin's  Coronation,  and  Queen  Anne's  coat  of  arms. 


LOLLARDISM  ON  THE  CONTINENT     285 

A  Latin  rhyming  inscription  is  carved  round  the  edge, 
like  that  on  the  tomb  of  Edward  in. 

This  was  the  woman  who  brought  England  and 
Bohemia  into  such  close  contact,  and  was  the  instrument 
of  carrying  "Lollardism  into  the  land  of  her  birth,  and 
thereby  inoculated  Eastern  Europe  with  the  reforming 
views.  Three  hundred  years  before,  the  English 
Princess  Margaret,  by  marrying  Malcolm  Canmore, 
king  of  Scots,  did  exactly  the  reverse  for  the  Scottish 
Church,  by  her  powerful  influence  gradually  supplanted 
the  ancient  Culdee  clergy  by  the  more  vigorous  and 
missionary  Roman  priests  from  her  native  England. 
Princess  Anne  of  Bohemia,  however,  reversed  that 
procedure  as  regards  her  native  land,  and  encouraged 
Bohemian  students  to  come  to  Oxford.  She  had  many 
of  her  countrymen  at  her  Court,  and  these  knew  what 
Lollardism  meant  very  well  from  their  mistress'  words 
and  actions.  She  herself,  according  to  Wycliffe,  had 
the  Scriptures  in  the  Latin  Vulgate  and  also  in 
English  and  Bohemian.  The  students  from  Prague 
University,  whom  she  induced  to  study  at  Oxford  and 
imbibe  the  reforming  views,  took  home  with  them  to 
Bohemia  Wycliffe's  tracts  and  Scriptures,  and  thus  the 
influence  spread  abroad.  Jerome  of  Prague  was  one 
of  the  most  distinguished  of  these  Bohemian  students 
at  Oxford ;  but  there  must  have  been  many  much 
tier,  for  John  Huss,  who  was  the  powerful  national 
outcome  of  the  Oxford  influence,  declares  in  his  Treatise 
against  Stokes  (1411)  that  Wycliffe's  works  had  been 
familiar  to  him  for  twenty  years.  Students  seem 
to  have  com*'  Eron  Prague  to  Oxford  pretty  Rteadily 
for  something  like  twenty  years,  the  last  recorded 
namm    being    Nicholas    Faulfisch    and    George   of 


286     WYCLIFFE  AND  THE  LOLLARDS 

Knienitz,  who  revised  Wycliffe's  Truth  of  Scripture 
in  1407. 

The  reforming  influence  which  thus  filtered  from 
Oxford  into  Bohemia  had  eventually  its  most  striking 
issue  in  John  Huss,  who  graduated  at  Prague  University 
in  1393  and  became  Master  of  Arts  in  1396.  No  city 
in  Germany  surpassed  it  in  grandeur  of  appearance, 
and  the  University  or  Carolinum  of  the  capital  of 
Bohemia  was  the  first  great  institution  of  the  kind 
planted  among  the  German  peoples,  while  the  grave 
of  the  world-famed  astronomer  Tycho  Brahe  is  within 
the  beautiful  Theinkirche,  and  adds  to  the  historical 
charm  of  a  wonderfully  historical  city  to-day. 

The  great  festival  days  of  Prague  have  always  been 
that  of  St,  Wenceslaus,  the  old  patron  Saint  of  Bohemia, 
celebrated  in  the  Christmas  carol,  and  that  of  St.  John 
Nepomuk,  whom  the  same  King  Wenceslaus  threw 
from  the  bridge  of  Prague  because  he  refused  to  reveal 
what  his  Queen  had  told  him  under  seal  of  confession. 
But  the  name  of  John  Huss  and  his  influence  are  the 
striking  notes  of  the  beautiful  city.  Even  yet  his  life 
was  all  along  identified  with  the  university  of  which 
he  became  a  lecturer  in  1398  and  the  rector  in  1402, 
a  post  which  he  held  until  April  1403.  The  subjects 
of  his  lectures  seem  to  have  been  the  text-books  of 
Prague,  Paris,  and  Oxford.  At  Stockholm  there  is 
preserved  a  translation  of  Wycliffe's  Five  Philosophical 
Treatises,  made  in  1398,  which  seems  to  show  that 
these  treatises  formed  the  subject  of  some  of  his  earlier 
prelections. 

In  1402  John  of  Mullheim  presented  Huss  to  the 
post  of  select  preacher  or  curate  to  the  Bethlehem 
Chapel  in  Prague,  where  he  was  bound  to  preach  in 


LOLLARDISM  ON  THE  CONTINENT    287 

Bohemian,  and  his  preparations  for  the  pulpit  led  him 
to  careful  study  of  Scripture  and  of  Wycliffe's  writings, 
which  were  by  this  time  fairly  well  known  in  the 
city  on  the  Moldau.  The  spirit  of  Reform  had  caught 
hold  of  hiifl,  and  he  strove  to  inflame  others  with  it, 
including  the  chief  ecclesiastics  of  the  place.  On 
28th  May  1403  a  series  of  disputations  was  begun  in 
the  university  on  the  Wycliffe  views,  with  the  result 
that  the  twenty-four  theses  condemned  at  the  Black- 
friars  Synod  in  1382,  along  with  twenty-one  others, 
were  proscribed,  and  the  teaching  of  them  forbidden. 
Wycliffe's  independent  spirit,  however,  had  its  resurrec- 
tion in  Huss,  who  continued  his  lectures  and  defence 
of  the  forty-five  condemned  theses.  Huss'  boldness 
brought  about  the  passing  of  a  statute  forbidding 
bachelors  to  lecture  on  Wycliffe's  Ti-ialogus  and  De 
Eucliaristia  or  any  other  of  the  Lutterworth  rector's 
writings,  which  seemed  to  have  become  quite  the  rage 
in  Prague.  Whatever  was  the  motive,  Sbynjek, 
archbishop  of  Prague  (1403),  made  Huss  preacher  to 
the  Synod, — an  opportunity  which  he  used  vigorously 
in  pressing  his  reforming  views  upon  the  crowds  who 
flocked  to  Bethlehem  Chapel  to  hear  him,  until  at 
last  his  utterances  became  so  bluntly  bold  that  the 
archbishop  in  1408  withdrew  his  favour  from  him,  and 
joined  those  both  in  Church  and  State  who  desired 
the  arrest  of  the  Lollard  and  reforming  movement. 

The  rivalries  between  Bohemia  and  Germany 
accentuated  matters.  Wenceslaus,  ambitious  to  become 
Emperor,  was  afraid  that  Wycliffe's  doctrines  might 
hinder  his  designs.  The  question  of  the  rival  Popes 
divided  the  university,  Germans  and  Bohemians  taking 
opposite    sides,   until    finally   the    German    influence 


288     WYCLIFFE  AND  THE  LOLLARDS 

triumphed  and  the  Bohemians  seceded  and  founded 
the  University  of  Leipsic,  of  which  Huss  was  in  1409 
elected  rector.  At  last  strong  measures  were  taken 
against  the  bold  apostle  of  Reform,  who  had  succeeded 
in  impregnating  his  views  on  the  University  of  Prague 
so  successfully  among  the  multitude  of  students  who 
resorted  to  it  from  all  quarters,  and  which  is  said  to 
have  had  at  one  time  the  almost  incredible  number  of 
forty  thousand.  The  spirit  of  free  inquiry  brought 
its  fruit,  and,  under  the  zealous  teaching  of  Huss, 
Jerome,  and  others,  the  corruptions  of  the  Church  were 
exposed  and  the  seeds  of  reform  sown.  The  archbishop 
who  had  befriended  him  reported  the  dangerous 
tendencies  to  Rome,  and  Pope  Alexander  n.  issued 
several  Bulls  denouncing  the  Lollard  views,  one  of 
these,  dated  9th  March  1409,  authorising  four  doctors  of 
theology  and  four  of  canonical  law  to  examine  into 
the  matter  and  take  steps  for  the  suppression  of 
Wycliffe's  heresy,  so  successfully  imported  from  Eng- 
land. Inquiry  was  made  as  to  the  extent  to  which 
Wycliffe's  writings  were  in  circulation ;  and  Huss  along 
with  others  loyally  brought  his  Wycliffe  books  before 
the  Commission,  and  these  were  publicly  burned  on 
the  16th  July  1409,  Huss  and  all  his  followers 
being  excommunicated.  This  was  as  unpopular  a  step 
in  Bohemia  as  the  condemnation  of  Wycliffe  was  in 
England.  Both  men  were  the  expressions  and 
exponents  of  the  popular  religious  aspirations  of  the 
age,  of  the  longing  of  the  world  for  a  glimpse  of  the 
angels  and  a  vision  of  the  Eternal.  Not  that  that 
vision  was  non-existent  in  the  Church:  far  from  it; 
but  ceremonialism,  mechanicalism,  formalism,  and 
materialism  had  dimmed  its  beauty  and   marred  its 


LOLLARDISM   ON  THE  CONTINENT    289 

glory.  Undeterred  by  his  excommunication,  by  his 
surrender  of  Wycliffe's  treatises,  which  really  con- 
stituted his  spiritual  armoury,  or  the  prohibition  on 
preaching  in  unconsecrated  buildings  of  which 
Bethlehem  Chapel,  where  Huss  held  forth,  was  the 
main  one  in  question, — Huss  still  continued  to  preach 
and  to  teach  in  the  chapel  with  a  fresh  earnestness 
and  zeal. 

Pope  Alexander  died  in  1410,  and  his  successor,  John 
xxii  1.,  renewed  proceedings  against  Huss  and  the 
Lollards.  Papal  envoys  came  to  Prague  and  argued 
in  favour  of  proceedings  against  Wycliffe's  disciples; 
but  the  King,  Queen,  and  nobles  deplored  these,  and 
asked  that  the  Pope's  sentence  should  be  reversed. 
Tl lis  was  to  no  purpose,  and  Huss  and  his  followers 
were  again  proceeded  against,  thus  making  a  deeper 
cleavage  between  the  Bohemian  Court  and  the  Pope. 
In  1411  the  archbishop  died,  and  proceedings  were 
stayed.  To  support  the  papal  claim  of  urgency,  the 
Carthusian  prior  of  Dolau  near  Olmlitz  published  a 
book,  entitled,  The  Marrow  of  Wheat,  or  anti-  Wiclif, 
in  which  he  described  how  Wycliffe's  doctrines  had 
spread  all  over  Bohemia,  and  attacked  Wj^cliffe  in  no 
moderate  manner.  In  addition  to  this,  Huss  at  this 
appealed  to  the  Bohemian  people  in  regard  to 
the  crusade  proclaimed  against  King  Ladislas  of 
Naples,  who  was  the  strong  supporter  of  Gregory  xii. 
the  anti-Pope.  The  people  of  Prague,  ever  loyal  to 
Huss,  answered  the  appeal  and  burned  the  Bulls  relat- 
ing to  the  crusade ;  while  three  young  men,  who  were 
martyred  because  of  the  part  they  had  taken  in  the 
matter,  were  buried  in  the  Bethlehem  Chapel  as  saints 
and  martyrs. 
19 


290     WYCLIFFE  AND  THE  LOLLARDS 

The  University  of  Prague,  instigated  by  Rome,  re- 
newed   its    attack    on    Huss,   and   again   condemned 
Wycliffe's   forty-five    heresies,   adding    six    of    Huss' 
heresies,  and  appealed  to  the  King  to  stay  the  spread 
of  Wycliffism,  and  to  forbid  Huss  to  preach.     King 
Wenceslaus  agreed  to  stop  the  flow  of  Lollardism,  but 
refused  to  forbid  Huss  to  exercise  his  preaching  gifts. 
Pope  John  xxiii.  was  appealed  to,  and  Peter  of  St. 
Angelo,  a  cardinal-deacon,  was  sent  to  deal  with  Huss. 
Huss  was  allowed  twenty-one  days  in  which  to  recant, 
and  in  the  event  of  his  refusal  he  was  to  be  excom- 
municated and   his   Bethlehem  Chapel   razed   to   the 
ground.      An   immense    tumult   was   the   result,   and 
even  the  King  begged  Huss  to  retire.     In  December 
1412  he   went  into  voluntary  exile,  after  publishing 
his  appeal  to  Christ  as  the  supreme  Judge.     A  synod 
was  held  at  Prague  to  settle  all  the  disputed  points, 
but    it    resulted    in   nothing,   while   Huss    continued 
boldly  to  preach  Wycliffe's  doctrines.     Pope  John  xxiii. 
summoned  a  council  at  Rome  to  establish  his  position 
against  the  rival  Pope;  but  while  no  practical  issue 
came  of  it,  Wycliffe's  Dialogus,  Trialogus,  and  other 
writings  were  condemned,  and  bishops  were  required 
to  search  out  and  burn  his  books,  and  anyone  under- 
taking to  defend  Wycliffe's  memory  was  ordered  to 
appear  before  the  Pope  within  nine  months.     All  these 
smaller  ecclesiastical  movements  were,  however,  eclipsed 
by  the  Council  of  Constance,  which  Pope  John  xxiii. 
called  at  the  instance  of  Sigismund,  king  of  Hungary, 
and  Rome,  the  object  of  which  was  to  unite  the  Roman 
Church  under  one  head  and  break  the  power  of  schism 
and  heresy. 

It  was  a  remarkable  gathering  of  the  spiritual  forces 


LOLLARDISM  ON  THE  CONTINENT    291 

of  Europe,  and  John  xxni.,  the  Vicar  of  Christ,  who 
had  against  him  two  anti-Popes,  Benedict  xin.  at 
Avignon  and  Gregory  xn.  at  Rimini,  was  charged  with 
profaneness  and  impiety,  and  fled  to  Schaffhausen, 
though  his  abdication  did  not  take  place  till  a  year 
later.  After  this  the  council  proceeded  in  its  delibera- 
tions without  a  Pope,  and  asserted  its  own  supreme 
authority  in  conformity  with  earlier  tradition,  which 
placed  the  Pope  under  the  authority  of  general  councils. 
The  King,  Sigismund,  managed  to  persuade  Huss  to 
attend  this  general  council  of  the  Catholic  Church, 
promising  him  safe-conduct  and  fair  play,  in  the  hope 
that  Huss  would  prove  himself  a  loyal  son  of  the 
Church. 

The  Council  of  Constance  was  one  of  the  most 
remarkable  assemblies  of  the  Christian  Church  in  the 
whole  world's  history.  It  aimed  at  reform  and  unity, 
and  yet  it  would  have  no  patience  with  the  reforming 
spirit,  which  even  then  was  abroad  among  the  people 
of  many  lands.  The  Wy cliff e  doctrines  formed  an 
early  topic  of  discussion  in  that  memorable  Council, 
and  once  more  the  forty-five  articles  were  condemned 
as  heresies,  while  two  hundred  and  sixty  other  heretical 
doctrines  gathered  out  of  WyclifFe's  works  were  laid 
before  the  fathers,  who,  however,  had  not  patience 
enough  to  hear  them.  At  last,  on  4th  May  1415,  the 
council  pronounced  Wycliffe  "  the  leader  of  heresy  in 
that  age,"  and  a  disseminator  of  false  Christianity. 
Wycliffe's  works  were  ordered  to  be  burned  and  his 
bones  to  be  disinterred  from  Lutterworth  churchyard, 

if  tiny  can  be  distinguished  from  the  bones  of  the 
l.iithful,  an«l  burned  also."  After  this  act  of  denuncia- 
afthedead  tin-  council  proceeded  against  the  li\ 


292     WYCLIFFE  AND  THE  LOLLARDS 

and  Huss,  who  had  been  kept  in  prison  until  then, 
was  summoned  to  the  council  on  the  5th  of  June,  his 
trial  lasting  for  three  days.  Against  him  thirty-nine 
articles  were  tabled,  twenty-six  from  his  book  on  the 
Church,  seven  from  his  controversy  with  Dr.  Palecz, 
and  six  from  his  reply  to  Stanislaus,  these  latter  two 
divines  being  the  leading  doctors  of  the  University  of 
Prague,  who  in  1413  had  been  appointed  to  expose  the 
Hussite  errors.  In  his  defence  John  Huss  gave  ex- 
planations of  many  points  in  which  he  had  been  mis- 
understood, and  also  defended  his  own  religious  beliefs. 
"The  Church,"  he  declared,  "was  governed  infinitely 
better  in  the  time  of  the  apostles  than  now.  What  can 
hinder  Jesus  Christ  from  governing  it  by  His  true 
disciples  ?  Though  I  say  the  Church  has  no  head  at 
present,  yet  Jesus  Christ  ceaseth  not  to  govern  it." 

Huss  was  asked  to  recant  the  whole  of  his  heresies, 
but  he  begged  the  council  in  God's  name  not  to  charge 
him  with  views  never  held  by  him,  more  especially 
in  regard  to  the  sacrament,  in  which  he  believed  the 
elements  after  consecration  were  no  longer  material 
bread  and  wine,  but  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ. 
For  his  other  views  he  said  he  was  prepared  to  vindicate 
himself.  He  was  then  charged  with  having  publicly 
read  the  letter  from  Oxford  University  in  favour  of 
Wycliffe  (6th  October  1406),  which  he  acknowledged  to 
have  done,  as  it  bore  the  seal  of  the  university. 
Another  letter  from  Oxford  University  was  then 
handed  in  by  the  English  delegates  to  the  Council, 
summing  up  two  hundred  heresies  in  WyclifFe's 
writings,  and  asking  them  to  be  condemned.  It  seemed 
as  if  the  sins  of  Wycliffe  were  to  be  visited  on  Huss 
with  double  vengeance.     Sigismund's  safe-conduct  was 


LOLLARDISM  ON  THE   CONTINENT    293 

urged  in  Huss'  favour,  but  in  vain,  and  on  24th  June 
his  writings  were  burned,  and  on  6th  July  he  himself 
was  burned  to  death.  Even  his  enemies  declared  the 
sentence  unjust,  as  he  had  never  denied  transubstantia- 
tion,  though  this  was  often  urged  against  him. 

Huss  claimed  to  be  an  orthodox  Christian  confessor, 
and  in  a  letter  declares — "  To  justify  myself  I  recall 
to  my  memory  the  great  number  of  holy  men,  of  the 
old  and  new  covenant,  who  have  undergone  martyrdom 
rather  than  transgress  the  law :  and  I  who  for  so  many 
-  have  preached  up  patience  and  constancy  under 
trials, — I,  to  fall  into  perjury — I,  so  shamefully  to 
scandalise  the  people  of  God !  Far,  far  from  me  be 
the  thought.  The  Lord  Jesus  will  be  my  succour  and 
my  recompense."  To  his  disciple,  the  priest  Martin,  he 
wrote — "  Fear  not  to  die  if  thou  desirest  to  live  with 
Christ :  for  He  has  Himself  said — '  Fear  not  them  that 
kill  the  body  but  who  cannot  kill  the  soul.'  Should 
they  seek  after  thee,  on  account  of  thy  adhesion  to  my 
doctrines,  make  them  this  reply,  '  I  believe  that  my 
master  was  a  good  Christian ;  but  as  to  what  regards 
his  writings  and  his  instructions,  I  have  neither  read 
all  nor  comprehend  all.'  " 

Huss  seems  to  have  remained  full  of  courage  to  the 
very  close,  for  in  a  late  letter  he  says — "  And  I  also, 
wretched  that  I  am,  if  that  could  contribute  to  His 
glory,  to  the  advantage  of  believers  and  my  own  good, 
could  be  also  delivered  by  the  Lord  from  chains  and 
death.  The  power  of  Him  who  freed  from  prison  by 
an  angel  St.  Peter  when  ready  to  die  at  Jerusalem,  and 
\\\\<)  caused  the  chains  to  fall  from  his  hands,  is  not 
diminished.  But  the  will  of  the  Lord  be  done  !  may  it 
be  accomplished  in  me  for  His  glory  and  for  my  sins." 


294     WYCLIFFE  AND  THE  LOLLARDS 

Huss  was  only  forty -five  when,  with  his  habit 
around  him,  he  was  burned  to  death.  In  an  old 
manuscript  copy  of  his  works  the  following  words 
are  written : — "  As  long  as  John  Huss  merely  declaimed 
against  the  vices  of  the  seculars,  everyone  said  that  he 
was  inspired  with  the  spirit  of  God ;  but  as  soon  as 
he  proceeded  against  ecclesiastics,  he  became  an  object 
of  odium,  for  he  then  really  laid  his  finger  on  the  sore." 
He  was  a  thorough  Roman  Catholic,  believing  in 
transubstantiation,  confession,  the  intercession  of  the 
saints,  the  adoration  of  images,  works,  purgatory,  and 
tradition.  Even  through  an  unworthy  priest,  he  held, 
God  works  spiritually.  Huss  was  no  enemy  of  Roman 
doctrines,  but  only  opposed  their  abuse  and  extremer 
consequences.  The  real  causes  of  the  severity  of  the 
sentence  against  Huss  were  that  he  saw  in  the  riches 
of  the  clergy  the  source  of  their  spiritual  decline  and 
ineptitude ;  and,  secondly,  that  while  he  professed 
himself  obedient  to  the  voice  of  the  Church's  council, 
he  attached  to  this  the  condition  that  his  own  conscience 
approved,  and  that  the  Scripture  was  obeyed.  This, 
of  course,  was  the  foundation-principle  of  reformation, 
the  recognition  of  Scripture  interpreted  by  private 
judgment  as  an  authority  superior  to  Church 
decisions. 

The  day  after  Huss'  execution  a  notice  was  affixed 
to  the  doors  of  all  the  churches  in  Constance  in  these 
words: — "The  Holy  Ghost  to  the  believers  of 
Constance,  greeting :  Pay  attention  to  your  affairs : 
as  to  Us,  being  occupied  elsewhere,  we  cannot  remain 
any  longer  in  the  midst  of  you.  Adieu."  The  charm- 
ing old  city  of  Baden,  stretching  along  the  shore  of 
the  Lake  of  Constance,  will  for  ever  be  memorable  as 


LOLLARDISM  ON  THE  CONTINENT     295 

the  scene  of  the  deliberations  of  a  council  professedly 
guided  by  the  Holy  Spirit  but  wofully  lacking  in  His 
fruits,  as  that  church-door  notice  grimly  indicated. 
In  the  fine  old  cathedral,  dating  back  to  1052,  with 
it-  majestic- nave  supported  by  sixteen  pillars,  each 
one  a  single  block  of  stone,  there  is  a  brass  plate  on 
the  floor  marking  the  spot  where  Huss  stood  when 
he  received  his  death-sentence  there  in  1415.  To-day, 
Constance  has  many  Hussite  memorials :  his  first 
prison,  the  Franciscan  convent,  is  in  ruins ;  his  second 
prison,  the  Dominican  monastery,  is  now  a  cotton 
factory;  the  house  where  he  resided  before  his  im- 
prisonment is  still  standing ;  and  the  guides  point  out 
the  place  in  a  field  outside  the  town  where  his  stake 
was  raised.  The  famous  council  met  in  the  merchants' 
hall  or  Kauf-haus,  built  in  1388,  and  sat  from  1414-18, 
committing  Huss  and  Jerome  of  Prague  to  the  flames 
as  a  proof  of  their  earnestness  in  defending  the  truth, 
though  some  of  its  decisions  were  lamentably  lacking 
in  evidence  of  spiritual  guidance.  One  of  these  stands 
out  in  lurid  colours.     The  question  was  submitted  to 

fathers  in  Council  as  to  the  justification  of  the 
murder  of  the  Duke  of  Orleans  by  the  Duke  of 
Burgundy.  There  had  been  a  long  feud  between  the 
Orleans  and  the  Burgundy  factions,  and  in  1412  the 
triumphant  Orleans  party  got  the  University  of  Paris 
to  condemn  seven  propositions  extracted  by  its 
chancellor,  the  famous  Gerson,  to  whom  some  have 
attributed  the  Imitation  of  Christ,  from  the  pleadings 
of  John   Petit,  who   had   made   an   apology   for   and 

rice  of  the  murder.     Petit  had  argued  at  length 

that  it  was  lawful  to  kill  any  tyrant  who  hatched  evil 

g,  and  that  the  slayer  should  receive 


296    WYCLIFFE  AND  THE  LOLLARDS 

royal  rewards,  just  as  Michael  the  archangel  was  re- 
warded for  turning  Lucifer  out  of  Paradise  and 
Phinehas  for  cutting  off  Zimri.  These  and  other 
sentiments  as  to  the  validity  of  oaths  were  condemned 
at  the  famous  "  Council  of  the  Faith  "  held  in  1413, 
and  the  King  ordered  the  Parliaments  of  the  kingdom 
to  inscribe  the  sentence  in  their  registers.  The  Duke 
of  Burgundy  appealed  to  the  Pope,  John  xxiii.,  who 
appointed  the  cardinals  of  Florence,  Aquileia,  and  Des 
Ursius  to  examine  into  the  matter.  The  Bishop  of 
Paris,  who  had  condemned  the  doctrines,  had  his 
sentence  quashed  by  them,  and  accordingly  Charles 
VI.  appealed  to  the  Constance  Council,  sending  as  his 
own  representatives  and  pleaders  two  bishops  and 
several  doctors,  of  whom  the  most  brilliant  was  Gerson, 
the  chancellor  of  the  University  of  Paris.  At  the 
council,  Gerson  denounced  Petit's  doctrines  with  the 
utmost  warmth,  declaring  that  the  apology  for  the 
murder  was  more  dangerous  than  the  murder  itself. 
And  yet  Gerson  and  Huss  had  much  in  common,  and 
were  both  good  and  great  men ;  and  in  the  matter  of 
Petit,  Gerson  strove  to  clear  his  soul  and  conscience 
of  all  evil.  As  a  Christian,  Gerson's  beautiful  treatise, 
De  parvwlis  ad  Christum  trahendis,  is  tender,  placid, 
and  generous ;  but  when  the  theological  rancour  was 
on  him  he  became  fierce,  bitter,  and  relentless ;  and  in 
his  opposition  to  Petit's  views  he  was  strongly 
seconded  by  Peter  D'Ailly,  the  cardinal  of  Cambray,  his 
friend  and  former  master.  Altogether  Gerson  engaged 
in  twenty -two  discussions  on  Petit's  theses,  and  finally 
he  himself  with  D'Ailly  was  accused  of  heresy.  The 
chief  charges  against  Gerson  were  that  he  prevented 
Christians  from  obeying  the  Pope,  holding  that  there 


LOLLARDISM  ON  THE  CONTINENT    297 

was  a  higher  law  and  tribunal,  and  hinting  that  if 
John  Huss  had  had  certain  advocates,  he  would  not 
have  been  condemned.  Gerson  clung  to  his  belief  in 
the  power  of  general  councils,  and  placed  their  decisions 
above  those ^of  Rome. 

The  Council  of  Constance  was  an  enormous  and 
phenomenal  gathering  of  an  international  character. 
The  main  object  of  the  gathering  was  to  settle  the 
peace  of  the  Church.  The  Council  of  Pisa  had  nomin- 
ally secured  unity,  and  yet  Benedict  XIII.  was  still 
vigorous  in  Spain  and  Gregory  xii.  had  a  standing  in 
Italy.  The  Council  of  Pisa  had  declared  for  Pope 
John,  but  the  acceptance  of  him  was  by  no  means 
universal.  The  Council  of  Constance  divided  itself 
into  four  nations, — Italian,  German,  French,  and 
English,  and  each  nation  deliberated  on  the  question 
of  the  Popedom  separately.  The  result  was  that  all 
the  nations  except  the  Italian  urged  that  John  xxin. 
should  abdicate,  and  finally  he  undertook  to  do  so  if 
Gregory  and  Benedict  would  do  the  same.  The 
disputes  between  Sigismund  and  the  French  became 
accentuated.  John  took  an  independent  attitude,  and 
ied  from  Constance  on  20th  March,  establishing 
himself  at  Schaffhausen.  The  council  declared  its 
independence  of  the  Pope,  and  went  on  with  it 
business.  Ere  March  closed  John  retired  to  Laufen- 
borg,  lower  down  on  the  Rhine,  and  protested  against 
tip  council's  validity.  On  30th  March,  at  its  fourth 
session,  the  council  declared  itself  independent  of  the 
Holy  See,  and  even  superior  to  it. 

In  the  meantime  the  cardinals,  seeing  the  reform- 

Jfririt  in  the  council,  became  alarmed,  and,  Fearing 

that  their  interests  might  be  hurt,  began  to  consider 


298     WYCLIFFE  AND  THE  LOLLARDS 

the  position.  John  xxiil.  was  charged  with  a  long 
list  of  crimes,  and  on  29th  May  was  deposed  by  the 
council,  which  also  agreed  that  none  of  the  other 
papal  candidates  should  be  recognised,  and  that  no 
new  election  should  take  place  without  its  sanction. 
The  Council  of  Pisa  had  set  aside  two  Popes,  and 
recommended  John  xxiil. ;  now  the  Council  of  Con- 
stance deposed  him.  What  a  shock  to  Christendom 
it  must  have  been  to  see  the  warrings  over  the 
vicarage  of  Christ,  over  the  person  of  him  who 
claimed  to  be  the  supreme  judge  and  director  of  the 
consciences  of  men, — of  the  peasant  that  tills  the 
field,  of  the  prince  that  sits  on  the  throne ;  of  the 
household  that  lives  in  the  shade  of  privacy,  and  the 
Legislature  that  makes  laws  for  kingdoms,  who  claims 
to  be  the  sole,  last,  supreme  judge  of  what  is  right 
and  wrong. 

The  Council  of  Constance  was  a  reforming  council. 
It  deposed  John  xxiii.  ;  a  few  weeks  later  Gregory  xii. 
abdicated,  and  Benedict  xiii.  held  a  nominal  position  as 
Pope  in  Spain.  To  eradicate  heresy,  it  burned  John 
Huss,  and  then  proceeded  to  destroy  Jerome  of  Prague, 
his  most  ardent  disciple.  Wenceslaus,  king  of 
Bohemia,  and  his  nobles  were  incensed  at  Huss' 
treatment  and  the  threats  against  Jerome,  and  a 
letter  was  addressed  t#  the  council,  in  which,  while 
expressing  their  devotion  to  the  Roman  Church,  they 
declared  their  intention  to  allow  God's  word  to  be 
freely  preached,  and  their  hope  that  a  worthy  Pope 
might  soon  be  elected.  It  was  the  old  Wycliffe 
difficulty  over  again, — the  desire  to  remain  within 
the  Roman  Church  and  yet  their  thirst  for  evangelical 
preaching,  teaching,  and  living.     Jerome  was  at  this 


LOLLARDISM  ON  THE  CONTINENT    299 

time  in  irons  in  the  tower  of  St.  Paul's  cemetery. 
The  council  was  irritated  at  the  Bohemian  nobles' 
menacing  letter,  and,  while  anxious  to  put  down 
heresy,  hesitated  to  destroy  Jerome  for  fear  of 
vengeance.  -Jerome  was  pressed  to  abjure,  and,  being 
weak  and  depressed,  like  Cranmer  he  retracted  and 
submitted  to  the  Council.  But  while  he  retracted 
in  a  way,  he  still  declared  his  adhesion  to  the  holy 
truths  taught  by  Wycliffe  and  John  Huss.  The 
Council  was  dissatisfied.  The  Cardinal  of  Cambray 
and  others  urged  that  lie,  arguing  on  realist  grounds, 
had  obeyed  the  council ;  but  Nason,  strong  in  his 
orthodoxy,  lectured  the  favourable  cardinals,  saying, 
"  We  are  much  astonished  to  find  you  interceding  for 
this  pestiferous  heretic,  from  whom  we  have  received 
so  much  injury  in  Bohemia,  and  who  could  very 
easily  cause  as  much  to  yourselves.  Is  it  possible 
that  you  have  been  gained  over  by  bribes  from  the 
King  of  Bohemia  or  from  the  heretics?  Can  they 
have  purchased  from  you  the  liberty  of  this  man  ? " 
At  this  the  cardinals  demanded  to  be  freed  from 
their  position  as  commissioners  against  Jerome,  and 
new  one*  were  elected, — John  de  Rocha,  Gerson's  fierce 
adversary,  and  the  Patriarch  of  Constantinople,  John 
Huss'  ardent  persecutor.  Huss  saw  that  his  hour 
had  come,  and,  indignant  a&.  the  injustice  of  the 
charges  made  against  him,  he  courageously  declared — 
to  me,  I  am  only  a  feeble  mortal, — my  life  is  of 
but  little  importance:  and  when  I  exhort  you  not  to 
deliver  an  unjust  sentence,  I  speak  less  for  myself 
than  tot  you."  After  having  been  given  several  diets 
to  plead  his  cause,  he  was  condemned,  and  crowned 
with   a   high    paper    crown    on    which    were   painted 


3co     WYCLIFFE  AND  THE  LOLLARDS 

demons  in  flames.  "Jesus  Christ,"  cried  Jerome,  in 
the  very  same  memorable  and  historical  words 
which  Huss  had  used,  and  which  had  become  proverbial 
among  the  reforming  spirits, — "who  died  for  me  a 
sinner,  wore  a  crown  of  thorns.  I  will  willingly 
wear  this  for  Him."  At  the  very  place  where  Huss 
had  suffered  he  was  burned,  repeating  the  Apostles' 
Creed,  the  Litanies,  and  a  Hymn  to  the  Virgin.  "  This 
creed,"  he  said,  addressing  the  crowd,  "  which  I  have 
just  sung  is  my  real  profession  of  faith :  I  die,  there- 
fore, only  for  not  having  consented  to  acknowledge 
that  John  Huss  was  justly  condemned.  I  declare 
that  I  have  always  beheld  in  him  a  true  preacher  of 
the  gospel."  The  ashes  of  his  body,  clothes,  and 
belongings  were  gathered  and  thrown  into  the  Rhine, 
to  destroy  all  memory  of  him ;  but  the  very  ground 
where  his  stake  was  placed  was  hollowed  out,  and 
the  earth  carried  into  Bohemia  and  guarded  like 
earth  from  the  Holy  Land  with  loving  care.  With 
childish  pique  the  same  council,  more  than  a  quarter 
of  a  century  after  his  death,  ordained  that  Wycliffe's 
ashes  should  get  the  same  treatment,  and  so  his 
body  was  exhumed  and  burned,  and  the  ashes  thrown 
into  the  Swift;  but  the  Swift  bore  them  into  the 
Wye;  and  the  Wye  carried  them,  as  old  Fuller  says 
in  an  oft-quoted  passage,  into  the  Severn,  and  the 
Severn  into  the  sea — and  the  sea  into  the  ocean, 
typical  of  the  way  in  which  the  Wyclifie  doctrines 
have  been  carried  all  over  the  world. 


PART   III 

RESULTS  OF  WYCLIFFE'S  TEACH- 
ING WITHIN  THE  ROMAN 
CHURCH 

The  opinions  of  Wycliffe  were  destined  to  have  an 
infinitely  wider  and  deeper  influence  than  either  his 
enemies  imagined  or  he  himself  ever  dreamt.  To 
begin  with,  his  attacks  on  Church  abuses  aroused  the 
Church  to  set  her  house  in  order.  The  action  of  the 
Church  in  first  burning  and  scattering  the  Reformer's 
bones  and  then  acting  on  his  opinions  and  adopting 
many  of  his  suggestions  as  to  ecclesiastical  reform,  is 
strongly  suggestive  of  the  Hindu  tale,  in  which  an 
elephant-tamer  was  hopelessly  at  a  loss  what  to  do 
with  one  of  his  animals  which  refused  to  do  his 
bidding.  At  last  he  gave  the  truncated  quadruped 
a  severe  beating.  Some  hours  later  his  heart  was 
touched,  softened,  and  melted,  when,  looking  out  of 
verandah,  he  saw  the  whipped  animal  on  his 
hindlegs  endeavouring  to  go  through  the  tricks  and 
perform  the  steps  which  he  obstinately  refused  to  do 
before.  The  Roman  Church,  like  the  Oriental 
quadruped  of  wisdom,  profited  by  WyclifiVs  lash,  and 
qtlietly  tried  the  steps  h<i  had  indicated  in  the  way 
of   reform.     The    reforming    Councils    of    Constance, 


302     WYCLIFFE  AND  THE  LOLLARDS 

Pisa,  and  the  rest  were  the  first  results  of  Wycliffe's 
attacks  and  teachings. 

The  Council  of  Pisa  for  the  first  time  in  history 
put  a  definite  limitation  on  the  Pope.  Hitherto  an 
immoral  or  wicked  Pontiff'  could  remain  in  power 
unchecked  and  unrestained,  unless,  indeed,  a  French 
King  or  a  German  Emperor  took  in  hand  to  terrorise 
him.  It  was  not,  however,  very  creditable  to  the 
Church,  that  she  had  to  be  regulated  and  kept  right 
in  those  eternal  principles  of  righteousness  and 
morality  which  it  was  her  special  vocation  and 
mission  to  proclaim  and  extend,  by  worldly 
threateners  and  secular  powers.  The  cardinals, 
however,  at  the  Council  of  Pisa  took  action  as  to 
the  rival  Popes  and  the  scandalous  schism  caused 
by  Clement  vn.'s  election.  The  practical  result  of 
the  rival  papacy  was  that  the  belief  in  Christendom 
as  to  a  visible  and  infallible  Vicar  of  Christ  was 
rudely  shaken,  and  the  Wycliffe  idea  spread  abroad 
that  "  the  head  of  the  Church  is  Christ,  and  the  unity 
of  the  Church  consists  in  union  with  Him  and  not  in 
union  with  any  particular  Pope."  The  ecclesiastical 
views  propounded  at  the  Council  of  Pisa  by  D'Ailly 
bore  the  strongest  resemblance  to  Wycliffe's  doctrines, 
and  virtually  restored  to  the  clergy  and  laity  the 
rights  of  which  the  Pope  had  robbed  them.  He  held 
that  a  general  council  could  be  summoned  by  the 
cardinals,  or  even  by  a  company  of  the  faithful,  and 
might  call  upon  the  supreme  Pontiff  for  an  account  of 
his  stewardship. 

On  Lady  Day,  1409,  the  council  met  in  the  cathedral 
of  Pisa,  with  twenty-two  cardinals  and  some  four 
hundred   prelates   and   abbots  and  representatives  of 


RESULTS  OF  WYCLIFFE'S  TEACHING    303 

the  Courts  of  Europe,  excepting  Spain,  altogether  about 
a  thousand  members..  Baldassare  Cossa  was  president, 
— himself  afterwards  to  be  made  Pope,  and  to  disgrace 
the  tiara.  The  rival  Popes  were  summoned  to  appear, 
but  refused;  and  on  25th  May,  Gregory  and  Benedict 
were  pronounced  by  this  council  of  prelates  con- 
tumacious, and  on  5th  June  they  were  deposed.  The 
King  of  Arragon  and  Benedict's  ambassadors  begged  to 
be  heard,  but  the  council  was  firm,  and  proceeded  to 
elect  a  successor.  The  president  of  the  council, 
Baldassare  Cossa,  was  naturally  suggested;  but  he 
begged  to  be  passed,  and  the  lot  fell  on  Peter  Philargi, 
a  learned  Greek  over  seventy  years  of  age,  who  took 
as  his  title  Alexander  v.  Other  reforms  were  con- 
sidered, and  the  council  dissolved  on  7th  August  1412, 
happy  in  the  thought  that  unity  had  been  restored  to 
Christendom. 

It  was,  however,  only  a  dream.  The  cardinals  had 
not  reckoned  with  Benedict  and  Gregory  and  their 
friends,  and  the  result  was  only  to  add  another  claimant 
to  the  papal  See.  Alexander  lived  less  than  a  year,  and 
favoured  the  Franciscans,  of  whom  he  had  been  one, 
to  such  a  violent  extent  that  the  University  of  Paris 
rose  in  arms.  Cossa,  his  legate  in  Italy,  fought  his 
claims  so  strenuously  that  finally  Rome  was  captured 
for  his  side.  Baldassare  Cossa  began  life  as  a  pirate ; 
and,  while  a  man  of  enormous  energy  and  pushfulness, 
was  absolutely  devoid  of  moral  principle  and  honour- 
able ideas ;  and  even  Italy  stood  aghast  at  his  profli- 
gacies. Naples  was,  however,  menacing  Rome,  and 
Cossa  was  the  only  man  fit  to  stand  in  the  breach  and 
p  the  Eternal  City  for  the  Pope,  and  accordingly 
Alexander^!  death  he  was  elected  under  the  title  of 


304     WYCLIFFE  AND  THE  LOLLARDS 

John  xxui.  Victory  was  not,  however,  to  be  his: 
Naples  grew  in  strength,  and  Ladislas,  though  defeated, 
was  powerfully  arrogant,  and  in  June  1411  the  Pope 
had  to  give  way  so  far  as  to  admit  Ladislas  to  be 
King  of  the  Sicilies  in  return  for  a  promise  that  he 
would  bring  about  the  abdication  of  Gregory  xn. 

The  prorogued  Pisan  Council  promised  for  1412  took 
place  in  Rome  in  1413,  and  began  its  memorable  pro- 
ceedings by  publicly  burning  WyclinVs  writings  on 
the  steps  of  St.  Peter's  on  the  13th  of  February,  and 
publishing  a  strong  condemnation  of  his  views, — the 
very  views  which  at  Pisa  they  had  so  largely  adopted 
and  acted  on.  Strangely,  an  owl  settled  on  the  Pope's 
head  at  vespers  in  the  Sistine  chapel  on  the  eve  of  the 
council's  proceedings ;  and  the  ill  omen  was  true,  for  the 
council  was  a  failure,  did  nothing,  and  informally 
broke  up.  John  announced  another  one  for  December 
1413,  but  in  the  meantime  the  King  of  Naples  took 
Rome,  the  Pope  fled,  and  finally  at  Cremona  put 
himself  under  the  protection  of  the  German  King 
Sigismund,  and  Pope  and  King  unitedly  fixed  a  general 
council  to  be  held  at  Constance  for  November  1414,  to 
which  Sigismund  summoned  Gregory  and  Benedict 
and  the  Kings  of  France  and  Arragon. 

Ladislas  died  in  the  autumn  of  1414,  and  Rome  was 
now  safely  in  John  xxiii.'s  hands.  His  political 
alliance  with  Sigismund,  however,  had  to  be  carried 
out,  for  the  German  sovereign  was  bent  on  restoring 
peace,  harmony,  and  unity  to  Christendom,  and 
accordingly  very  unwillingly  on  John's  part  the 
Council  of  Constance  began  on  5th  November  1414. 
The  Council  of  Pisa  thought  it  had  restored  unity  to 
Christendom    by   electing    a    Pope   who   owned   that 


RESULTS  OF  WYCLIFFE'S  TEACHING.    305 

councils  were  above  Popes,  and  his  acceptance  of  this 
fundamental  position  was  the  reason  why  he  got  the 
popular  following  which  he  did.  Had  he  claimed,  as 
Gregory  and  Benedict  each  still  did,  that  the  Pope  had 
the  sole  and  only  voice,  his  contract  would  have 
ceased,  and  his  position  would  have  been  forfeited. 
But  even  yet  Benedict  xm.  had  the  support  of  Spain, 
and  even  in  Italy  many  clung  to  Gregory  XII.  The 
position  of  affairs  seemed  hopeless. 

The  Council  of  Constance  was  attended  at  the  close 
by  5000  members  and  100,000  visitors,  and  set  its  face 
vigorously  in  the  direction  of  Church  reform.  Firstly, 
it  was  urged  that  the  decrees  of  the  Council  of  Pisa 
should  be  recognised,  and  that  for  the  future,  in  order 
to  keep  the  Pope  in  his  right  position  relative  to  the 
cardinals  and  people  generally,  as  only  sharing  in  the 
plenitudo  potestatis  and  not  absorbing  it  altogether 
to  the  exclusion  of  everyone  else,  as  the  Popes  had 
been  doing, — a  general  council  should  be  held  every 
ten  years.  D'Ailly  desired  to  acknowledge  the  Pisan 
decrees,  but  deprecated  the  stringent  measures  taken 
towards  the  Popes,  and  urged  that  while  Popes  have 
erred,  so  have  councils,  and  that  the  councils'  decisions 
■  only  of  value  as  they  represented  the  views  of 
universal  Christendom.  Sigismund  espoused  D'Ailly 's 
\,  and  declared  for  reform  as  the  essential  pre- 
liminary to  reunion.  The  ambassadors  of  Gregory  and 
Benedict  were  received ;  the  council  divided  itself  into 
nations, — Italian,  German,  French,  and  English,  who 
debated  separately  and  then  held  a  united  conference. 
The  result  was  known  by  the  16th  of  February.  The 
German,  French,  and  English  nations  voted  that 
John  xx m.  should  .'indicate,  while  the  Italian  nation 
20 


306     WYCLIFFE  AND  THE  LOLLARDS 

stood  by  him.  At  last,  on  1st  March,  he  agreed  to 
abdicate  on  condition  that  Gregory  and  Benedict  did 
likewise;  on  20th  March,  however,  he  suddenly  fled 
from  Constance  and  took  refuge  at  Schaffhausen. 
The  council,  though  bereft  of  its  papal  head,  went  on, 
and  finally  declared  that  it  was  not  only  independent 
of,  but  superior  to  the  Pope.  John  protested  against 
the  validity  of  the  council :  the  cardinals,  fearing  that 
Sigismund's  proposed  reforms  would  be  detrimental  to 
their  interests,  adopted  a  Fabian  policy,  and  started  a 
series  of  discussions  which,  with  other  negotiations, 
kept  the  council.  The  end  of  the  matter  was,  however, 
that  John  xxm.  was  deposed,  and  a  few  weeks  later 
Gregory  XII.  abdicated,  while  Benedict  XIII.  retained 
only  a  feeble  following  in  Spain.  Huss  and  Jerome 
of  Prague,  the  troublesome  Bohemian  Reformers,  were 
burned,  Wycliffe's  ashes  were,  at  the  childish  bidding 
of  the  council,  sent  down  the  Swift  to  season  the 
whole  world,  and  the  council  was  now  face  to  face  with 
the  positive  reform  and  reconstruction  of  the  Holy  See 
and  of  the  Christian  faith.  The  council  practically 
declared  itself  above  the  Pope,  and  there  was  a  strong 
rush  for  liberty  and  reform, — the  direct  results  of 
Wycliffe's  quiet  thinkings  in  Oxford  and  Lutterworth. 
There  was  to  be  reform,  but  churchmanship  as  well. 
Sigismund  took  upon  himself  the  role  of  pacificator,  and 
endeavoured  te  unite  all  Europe  against  the  menacing 
Turks.  After  countless  negotiations,  it  was  agreed  to 
elect  a  Pope  who  should  reform  the  Church  in  the 
matter  of  eighteen  heads,  and  this  before  the  council 
was  dissolved.  On  11th  November  the  Roman  cardinal 
Oddo  Colonna,  a  poor  man  of  illustrious  family  and 
fine  character,  was  elected  under  the  title  of  Martin  V. 


RESULTS  OF  WYCLIFFE'S  TEACHING    307 

The  Council  of  Constance  had  sat  for  three  years, 
and  the  several  thousand  delegates  were  wearied  out. 
Everyone  was  anxious  to  be  off,  and  hopeful  of  better 
and  brighter  days  to  come.  The  new  Pope  began  by 
condemning  the  heresies  of  Wycliffe  and  Huss,  and 
many  reforms  were  passed  ;  and  it  was  agreed  that  the 
eighteen  articles  of  reform  should  be  dealt  with  by 
concordats  or  committees  with  the  different  nations. 
Very  little  came  of  sending  these  matters  down  to 
committee,  and  the  next  council  was  to  complete  the 
reforming  work.  On  2 2nd  April  1418  the  Council  of 
Constance  was  dissolved.  The  Council  of  Pavia  in 
I  128  succeeded  it,  meeting  afterwards  at  Sienna ;  but  it 
was  not  representative,  and  the  conciliar  movement  for 
Church  reform  would  have  died  out  but  for  its  revival 
in  the  Council  of  Basle  in  1431, — a  council  called 
mainly  because  Bohemia  was  in  arms. 

Pope  Martin  v.  very  soon  became  universally  accepted 
by  a  Church  which  was  sick  to  death  of  ecclesiastical 

!  actions.  John  xxm.  submitted  in  1419  and  was 
rewarded  with  a  cardinal's  hat,  which  he  only  wore  for 
a  short  time,  when  he  died.  Benedict's  cause  in  Spain 
gradually  vanished.  When  he  died  in  1424,  three  of 
his  cardinals  elected  his  successor  Clement  vin.,  and 
one  chose  a  Pope  for  himself — Benedict  xiv.     In  1429 

uent  gave  in  and  was  made  Bishop  of  Majorca, 
while  in  1432  Benedict  was  sent  to  Pope  Martin  and 
imprisoned. 

There  was  now  one  Pope  over  Europe,  and  so  far  the 
Council  of  Constance  accomplished  the  unity  of  the 
Church.     But    Bohemia  could   not   forget   Huss  and 

•me,  and  on   Wenzel's  death   in    1419   Sigismund 
■  I  and  found  the  country  in  revolution.    The 


308    WYCLIFFE  AND  THE  LOLLARDS 

Bohemians  rose  in  arms,  ruined  their  churches,  destroyed 
everything  that  bore  the  mark  of  German  art  or 
Catholic  allegiance.  The  old  Slavonic  spirit  was 
re-awakened,  and  joined  hands  with  the  Hussite 
Puritanism  and  defied  the  Pope  and  the  Roman  Church. 
In  time  this  patriotic  Hussite  party  split  into  Calixtins 
or  those  who  allowed  the  cup  to  the  laity  in  the 
Supper,  and  radical  reformers  of  various  kinds  who  took 
up  Wycliffe's  socialistic  ideas.  Chief  among  the  latter 
was  John  Zizka,  who  was  an  earnest  Hussite  and  an 
admirable  military  organiser,  and  at  his  camp  at 
Tabor  formed  a  rallying  point  for  the  Taborites,  finally 
crushed  at  the  battle  of  Lipau  in  1434.  Previous  to 
this  the  Council  of  Basle  had  striven,  through  Cardinal 
Giulano  Cesarini,  legate  in  Germany  and  president  of 
the  council,  to  make  peace  with  Bohemia  on  very 
generous  terms.  But  the  C^ech  or  radical  religious 
movement  could  not  be  crushed,  and  spread  from 
Bohemia  into  Germany  and  beyond,  —  the  extreme 
reforming  party  being  known  as  the  "  Unitas  Fratrum," 
or  Bohemian  Brethren  or  Moravians.  It  was  to  this 
impulse  that  the  Waldensian  communities  in  Dauphine 
and  Piedmont  owed  their  chief  features.  The  Council 
of  Basle  was  summoned  mainly  to  settle  the  Bohemian 
difficulty ;  but  after  doing  its  best  in  that  direction  it 
tried  to  institute  a  perpetual  control  over  the  Pope,  and 
introduced  many  reforming  ideas  regarding  clerical 
life  and  conduct,  freedom  of  election  in  churches, 
reductions  in  the  number  of  cardinals,  and  above  all 
the  abolition  of  the  right  to  levy  dues  on  appointments 
to  a  benefice, — one  of  the  special  reforms  demanded 
at  an  earlier  day  by  Wycliffe.  Charles  vn.  of  France, 
in    1438,   by   the    "Pragmatic   Sanction   of  Bourges," 


RESULTS  OF  WYCLIFFE'S   TEACHING    309 

recognised  the  council  and  placed  its  decrees,  especially 
the  matter  of  papal  dues,  on  a  legal  footing  in  France. 
Afi  with  Wycliffe,  he  did  not  wish  to  see  the  money 
going  out  of  the  country  into  papal  cofters  with  no 
visible  return. 

In  1438  the  Diet  of  Mentz  published  a  similar 
approval  for  Germany., 

And  then  the  Holy  See  took  alarm.  Martin  v.  died 
in  1431  and  Eugenius  IV.  succeeded  him,  and,  fearing 
further  reforms,  dissolved  the  council,  which  the  fathers 
not  only  refused  to  do,  but  pronounced  him  disobedient 
to  their  will  and  worthy  of  suspension.  Eugenius 
defied  the  general  council,  and  held  an  independent 
council  of  his  own  at  Ferrara  and  afterwards  at 
Florence,  and  by  these  means  seemed,  at  any  rate,  to 
score  a  success  by  reuniting  the  Greek  Church  with 
the  Roman  See, — a  success  which  was  very  short  lived, 
as  the  old  cleavage  again  appeared  with  increased 
emphasis.  It  was  now  a  war  between  council  and 
Pope,  and  the  council  deposed  Eugenius  and  chose  an 
anti-Pope  Felix  v.  Eugenius,  however,  gained  the  day ; 
1  abdicated :  the  Council  of  Basle  died  of  exhaus- 
tion in  1448,  and  it  was  proved  to  the  satisfaction  of 
Christendom  that  the  conciliar  and  papal  supremacy 
v  absolutely  incompatible.  A  reaction  came  all 
over  Christendom  in  favour  of  the  papal  as  against  the 
conciliar  idea.  In  1448  the  Mentz  decrees  were 
abolished.  iEneas  Sylvius  Piccolomini,  afterwards 
Pope  Pius  11.,  a  clever  Italian,  engineered  the  matter 
and  restored  harmonious  relations  between  council  and 
Pope,  although  at  the  same  time  serving  his  own  ends 
and  grinding  his  own  axe/ 

Pope  Eugenius  died  on  27th  February  1447,  within 


3io    WYCLIFFE  AND  THE  LOLLARDS 

sight  of  the  triumphs  of  the  Vicar  of  Christ  which  his 
successors  were  to  behold.  The  Pope  arose  out  of  all 
these  contests  with  councils  and  kings  a  greater  political 
and  social  force  and  power  than  ever.  Nicholas  v.  suc- 
ceeded him  in  1447,  and  was  becoming  the  patron  of 
Humanism  when  the  Turks  knocked  at  the  door  of 
Christendom  once  more,  and  the  Pope  was  called  upon  to 
become  chief  defender  of  the  Faith.  In  1444  Cardinal 
Cesarini  led  a  Hungarian  army  against  the  infidel  and 
was  defeated.  Panic  seized  all  Christendom.  Nicholas 
proclaimed  a  crusade,  but  Germany  was  weak  and 
divided.  In  1456  Callixtus  in.  became  Pope,  and  led 
the  crusading  cause.  The  Turks  were  beaten  back  at 
Belgrade.  In  1458  Pius  n.  succeeded,  and  again 
initiated  crusades,  although  regarded  as  the  model  of 
the  secular  man  of  letters  of  his  time.  He  knew  what 
was  expected  of  him  and  he  did  it,  and  organised  the 
last  crusade.  The  Popes  up  till  then  were  the 
champions  of  Christendom  and  the  leaders  of  the 
crusades  against  the  infidels:  from  this  date  this 
aspect  of  their  life  and  character  waned,  and  they  con- 
fined themselves  chiefly  to  Italy, — the  sovereigns  of 
the  Papal  States  in  the  first  place,  and  the  Vicars  of 
Christ  for  the  world  in  the  second. 

The  claim  of  the  Pope  to  be  the  supreme  judge 
and  director  of  the  consciences  of  men,  of  the 
peasant  that  tills  the  field,  of  the  prince  that  sits  on 
the  throne,  of  the  household  that  lives  in  the  shadow 
of  privacy,  and  the  legislature  that  makes  laws  for 
kingdoms,  the  sole,  last,  supreme  judge  of  what  is  right 
and  wrong,  was  still  adhered  to;  but  as  a  matter  of 
historical  fact  the  special  end  and  aim  of  the  Holy  See 
from  this  time   forward  and  for  several   generations 


RESULTS  OF  WYCLIFFE'S  TEACHING    311 

was  the  conservation  of  the  Pope's  temporal  dominions 
and  his  status  as  a  European  prince,  with  his  own 
territories,  court,  and  army,  and  thus  he  came  to  live 
in  an  exclusively  Italian  world,  content  that,  if  this 
were  secure,  his  spiritual  sovereignty  over  the  earth 
would  generally  be  acknowledged  and  accepted. 

The  spirit  of  reform,  however,  was  abroad  all  over 
Europe, — the  first  reform  movement  initiated  by  the 
Lutterworth  rector.  The  Council  of  Basle  came  to  a 
somewhat  ignominious  ending,  but  the  desire  was 
widely  expressed  all  over  Christendom  that  another 
council  should  be  convened  to  settle  the  disputes  and 
difficulties  which  beset  the  Church  on  every  side. 
France  and  Germany  especially  were  loud  in  their 
demands  for  a  new  council,  while  England  remained 
for  the  most  part  silent.  Except  among  those  who 
were  immediately  around  the  Pope,  the  feeling  was 
general  that  if  the  Church  was  to  be  a  living  spiritual 
power  in  the  world,  a  better  religious  and  moral 
example  must  be  set  by  its  head,  and  the  general 
demoralisation  of  the  Church  and  its  courts  rectified. 
The  same  feeling  was  over  the  Roman  Church  as  in  the 
post- Reformation  epoch, — a  feeling  of  despair  and  hope- 
11  ess  and  distrust,  from  which  the  latter  was  saved 
only  by  the  joyful  news  of  the  triumph  of  Christian 
missions  in  the  Far  East,  where  St.  Francis  Xavier  and 
hifl  companions  won  fresh  triumphs  for  Christ's  Cross. 

Spain  began  the  work  of  ecclesiastical  reform  with 
great  zeal  and  much  promise.  The  long  crusade  of 
Christians  against  the  menacing  Moors  kept  alive  the 
zeal  for  Catholicism.  Ferdinand  of  Arragon  and 
Isabella  of  Castile,  when  they  united  the  two  crowns, 
carried   on   the   reforming  work   inside   the   Church, 


312     WYCLIFFE  AND  THE  LOLLARDS 

curtailing  the  Pope's  patronage  and  coming  to  terms 
with  the  Pope,  so  that  Sixtus  I  v.  undertook  that  onJy 
Spaniards  approved  by  the  Crown  should  be  appointed 
to  the  high  offices  of  the  Church.  Papal  Bulls,  having 
to  do  with  the  legal  rights  of  private  persons,  were  to 
be  held  invalid  unless  approved  by  the  civil  courts. 
The  Church  and  its  spiritual  revenues  were  to  be 
taxed  as  in  other  secular  cases.  Cardinal  Ximenes 
introduced  reforms  regarding  Church  discipline  by 
which  only  men  of  high  moral  and  spiritual  attainments 
could  hold  ecclesiastical  offices,  and,  himself  a  friar  of 
the  most  ascetic  order,  reproved  monastic  irregularities, 
deposed  ill-doing  Churchmen  from  their  offices,  and  so 
used  the  royal  patronage  that  only  learned  and  pious 
men  were  made  prelates. 

Observing  the  miserable  educational  standard  of  the 
rank  and  tile  of  the  clergy,  he  founded  colleges  and 
seminaries,  which  in  course  of  time  turned  out  scores 
of  eminent  divines  and  scholars.  Spanish  Christianity, 
from  its  close  association  with  Moorish  Mohammedan- 
ism, was  now  largely  militant ;  and  not  only  were  the 
Moors  gradually  driven  out  of  the  country,  leaving 
behind  them  stately  memorials  of  their  presence  in  the 
Alhambra  and  other  Oriental  structures,  but  the  Jews 
were  next  taken  in  hand  and  subjected  to  fierce 
persecution.  In  Rome  at  the  present  day  the  buildings 
of  the  Inquisition  are  entirely  closed ;  and  perhaps  itjia 
as  well,  for  the  memory  of  its  doings  is  far  from  being 
fragrant ;  but  it  was  not  really  in  Italy  but  in  Spain 
that  the  Holy  Office  had  its  first  beginning.  It  was 
Pope  Sixtus  iv.  who  in  1480  founded  the  Inquisition, 
originally  an  ecclesiastical  court  to  deal  with  heresies 
and  to  punish  offenders  with  spiritual  penalties,  and  if 


RESULTS  OF  WYCLIFFE'S  TEACHING    313 

necessary  to  hand  them  over  to  the  civil  powers  for 
physical  treatment.  The  civil  and  ecclesiastical  powers 
worked  hand  in  hand  to  suppress  heresy  and  disorder. 
But  the  reforming  movements  inside  the  Church  were 
not  confined  to  the  suppression  of  error  and  heresy ; 
the  humanist  movement  took  a  curious  phase,  not  as 
in  Italy  in  drawing  away  men's  minds  from  religion 
and  theology,  but  in  deepening  and  enlarging  faith. 
Cardinal  Ximenes  brought  out  the  first  polyglot  Bible, 
— the  fruit  of  the  revival  of  Greek  and  the  Renaissance 
spirit,  of  which  Dante  was  the  leading  prophet. 

The  real  cause  of  the  attraction  Dante  has  had  for 
six  centuries,  and  still  has  for  those  who  read  him,  lies 
in  the  vast  comprehensiveness  of  his  intellectual  view, 
combined  with  the  deepest  and  tenderest  human 
feeling.  Dante  still  shows  us,  as  no  other  writer 
does,  how  he  took  the  fruit  of  knowledge  for  his  food ; 
how  he  lived  through  life  and  overcame  it,  till  his 
spirit  moved  in  the  realm  of  moral  freedom,  which  is 
the  earthly  paradise  to  every  toiling  man. 

The  reforming  spirit  within  the  Church  appeared 
even  in  Italy,  but  it  became  more  of  an  intellectual 
than  a  religious  movement,  indeed  to  some  extent 
it  developed  into  rationalism  and  even  infidelity. 
Florence  was  to  a  great  extent  the  centre  of  this 
wonderful  influence,  which  had  as  its  object  the  restora- 
tion of  Greek  forms  of  thought  and  reasoning,  and  the 
substitution  of  Plato  for  the  long-worshipped  Aristotle. 
Marsiglio  Ficino  and  his  pupil  Giovanni  Pico  della 
Mirandola  were  the  leading  spirits  of  this  Florentine 
school  of  thought,  which,  echoing  the  Alexandrian 
Neo-Platonists,  tried  to  fuse  Platonic  thought  with 
Hebrew   and  Christian  ideas, — an   effort  which  very 


314    WYCLIFFE  AND  THE  LOLLARDS 

nearly  brought  Pico  to  be  excommunicated  by  the 
Holy  See.  But  the  leading  reforming  spirit  in  Italy  in 
the  middle  of  the  fifteenth  century  was  Girolamo 
Savonarola,  an  ascetical  Dominican  friar  in  St.  Mark's, 
Florence,  who  threw  himself  enthusiastically  against 
the  cold  religious  indifference  of  his  age,  and  with 
tongues  of  fire  warned  Florence  of  its  coming  doom. 
His  pure  and  blameless  life,  his  purity  of  faith  and 
doctrine,  made  him  a  marvellous  power  as  a  preacher 
of  righteousness,  to  whom  sin  was  sin  whether  in  the 
Vatican  or  in  the  noble  house  of  the  Medici.  He  came 
to  believe  himself  to  be  the  God-sent  saviour  of  Italy  ; 
and  when,  after  scourging  the  sins  of  the  Medici,  he 
declared  in  apocalyptic  style  that  the  scourge  of  God 
would  come,  unfortunately,  when  Charles  viii.  and  the 
French  invaded  Italy,  he  regarded  them  as  the  messengers 
of  Heaven  to  chasten  Italy.  The  embassy  sent  out  to 
meet  Charles  included  Savonarola  himself,  and  when 
the  Medici  were  driven  from  power,  Savonarola  and 
his  party  became  all-powerful.  And  then  the  tide 
turned,  and  after  a  year  the  French  beat  an  ignoble 
retreat,  leaving  Savonarola  and  his  party  to  face  the 
wrath  of  the  Pope.  The  intrepid  friar  was  first  for- 
bidden to  preach,  to  which  he  replied  by  denouncing 
the  Roman  See ;  for  which  he  was  excommunicated  on 
13th  May  1497.  Still  Florence  was  with  him,  and  the 
magistrates  asked  him  to  resume  preaching  in  the 
cathedral.  The  Pope  was  distinguished  for  few  virtues, 
and  a  general  desire  was  abroad  for  a  general  council 
to  reform  the  Church, — a  movement  naturally  favoured 
by  Charles  viii.  for  political  reasons,  and  by  the  fiery 
monk  from  a  pure  desire  to  see  the  Augsean  stable 
cleansed.      A    reaction    set    in    in    Florence   against 


RESULTS  OF  WYCLIFFE'S  TEACHING    315 

Savonarola,  and  he  was  taken  prisoner  on  8th  April 
1498  and  brought  to  his  trial.  Under  the  severest 
torture  he  admitted  his  heresy  like  Cranmer,  and  even 
declared  himself,  through  a  heated  examination,  to  be 
a  prophet  of  lies ;  whereupon  the  Pope  sent  commis- 
sioners to  Florence,  and  after  a  strict  trial  he  and  two 
of  his  disciples  were  declared  heretics,  and  on  the  23rd 
of  May  were  hanged  on  a  gallows  in  the  old  Florentine 
palace  and  burned  to  death.  Savonarola's  only  offence 
was  that  he  desired  the  ecclesiastical  reforms  initiated 
by  the  Council  of  Constance  to  be  carried  through ;  but 
insensibly  the  religious  and  ecclesiastical  questions  in- 
volved glided  into  the  sphere  of  politics ;  and  though  his 
only  desire  as  a  Reformer  was  to  put  into  practice  the 
proposals  of  Gerson  and  D'Ailly,  and  himself  considered 
that  he  was  a  religious  martyr,  he  was  only  the  scape- 
goat of  political  expediency,  and  was  in  every  sense  of 
the  word  the  subject,  like  the  Nazarene  Himself,  of  a 
judicial  murder.  Not  religion,  but  ecclesiastical 
politics,  organised  from  the  Vatican,  sent  Savonarola  to 
the  stake.  In  reality  his  voice  was  only  the  continua- 
tion of  the  protest  raised  by  the  Council  of  Constance 
and  by  individual  Churchmen  against  the  abuses  of  the 
Holy  See  and  the  corruptions  of  the  Vatican  and  of 
the  Church  generally. 

The  reforming  movement  which  was  felt  in  Spain 
and  Italy  spread  to  Germany,  where,  long  before  the 
Reformation  set  in,  there  was  heard  the  voice  of  "  an 
infant  crying  for  the  light," — the  desire  of  great  and 
good  men  to  have  the  Church  made  more  worthy  of 
her  high  calling,  and  more  truly  real  in  the  practice 
of  that  faith  which  she  professed.  Among  those 
ier  Reformers  in  Germany  whose  thoughts  never 


316    WYCLIFFE  AND  THE  LOLLARDS 

drifted  towards  separation  but  only  towards  purifica- 
tion and  betterment,  were  the  various  Mystics,  the 
Friends  of  God,  the  Brethren  of  the  Common  Life,  and 
others,  some  of  them  moderate,  others  extravagant  in 
their  spiritual  views  and  aspirations.  One  of  the 
earliest  of  these,  Master  Eckhart,  in  the  fourteenth 
century,  was  an  earnest  disciple  of  St.  Thomas  Aquinas, 
and,  like  Wycliffe,  spread  the  gospel  of  Christ  among 
the  common  people  by  popular  preaching  and  preachers ; 
and  he  with  Taulcr  and  others  stirred  up  a  fresh  desire 
for  the  reform  of  abuses  in  the  Church,  though  never 
in  the  direction  of  revolutionary  and  separatist 
measures.  The  Mystics  were  the  spiritually  and 
devotionally-minded  men  within  the  Church,  and  all 
they  asked  was  that  the  Bride  of  Christ  should  be 
reasonably  worthy  of  her  great  Head,  and  that  by 
personal  piety  and  a  deepened  spiritual  life  she  should 
prove  herself  Christ's  Angel  upon  earth,  crowned  with 
stars  and  clothed  with  the  sun.  Their  aspirations  in 
the  direction  of  a  deeper  realisation  of  religious  ideals 
have  been  often  revived  not  only  in  the  Roman  but 
in  the  Reformed  Churches,  and  even  in  the  Churches 
of  the  present  day,  when  mechanicalism,  formalism, 
and  indifference  have  become  paramount.  The 
Brethren  of  the  Common  Life,  who  had  their  origin 
in  the  house  founded  by  Gerard  Groot  at  De venter, 
were  very  much  on  the  same  lines;  and  leaving 
ecclesiastical  reforms  as  dealt  with  by  councils  to 
Providence,  set  themselves  about  cultivating  personal 
piety  and  family  devotion.  Whether  the  Imitation  of 
Christ  was  written  by  Thomas  a  Kempis,  and  came 
from  their  inner  circle,  or  was  the  work  of  Gerson, 
will  probably  never  be  settled  :  it  will  in  all  probability 


RESULTS  OF  WYCLIFFE'S  TEACHING    317 

for  ever  remain  a  riddle,  like  the  Casket  Letters,  the 
Bruce-Logan  poems,  the  Epics  of  Ossian,  and  the  other 
mysteries  of  literature.  At  any  rate,  the  Common  Life 
Brethren  knew  and  loved  the  Imitatio,  and  had  no 
small  hand  in  giving  and  revealing  to  a  Christendom 
which  had  lost  its  first  love  and  early  fire,  and  to  a 
world  which  was  growing  old  and  weary  at  heart,  a 
soul-manual  which  is  acceptable  to  every  Christ- 
follower  and  nourishing  to  every  earth -pilgrim.  If 
the  Pilgrim's  Progress  gives  the  list  of  Christian 
enemies  and  struggles,  the  Imitation  tells  the  story 
of  Christian  peace  and  communion  with  the  Lord,  and 
both  manuals  together  form  an  incomparable  guide- 
book to  heaven.  In  addition  to  the  cultivation  of 
devotion,  however,  the  Common  Life  Brethren  through 
personal  and  individual  influence  strove  to  purify 
the  monastic  life  and  elevate  the  tone  of  German 
(  lnistianity,  the  chief  mover  in  this  direction,  strange 
to  say,  being  the  papal  legate  himself  (1451),  Nicolas 

hs  of  Cues,  commonly  styled  Cusanus,  who  had 
been  educated  at  Deventer  and  attended  the  Council 
<>t  Basle,  following  in  the  main  the  general  policy  of 
^Eneas  Sylvius.  The  Renaissance  spirit  which  was 
bringing  fresh  intellectual  life  to  Italy  gradually 
spread  to  Germany  through  the  influx  of  the  young 
men  of  the  Fatherland,  who  imbibed  the  sentiments  of 
a  high  intellectualism  and  a  serene  morality,  which, 
coining   home,  they  diffused  all  over  the  country  of 

i    birth.      From   having  only  five   universities   in 

the  fourteenth  century,  Germany  in  the  early  yearn 

of    tli-    tilt-filth    increase. I    them    to   seventeen.     The 

it  seized  the  country  through  this  strong 

Italian     influence    aii'l    I  lunianism    became   the   rage. 


318    WYCLIFFE  AND  THE  LOLLARDS 

Nor  was  it  entirely  a  secular  movement,  for  the  spirit 
of  revival  touched  the  sphere  of  German  theology,  and 
such  men  as  Agricola  and  Reuchlin  strove  to  bring 
fresh  ideas  and  thoughts  into  what  had  hitherto  been 
a  dry  mediaeval  study ;  and  in  this  reinvigorated 
theology  its  pioneers  were  enormously  assisted  by  the 
newly  discovered  art  of  printing,  which  became  the 
special  handmaid  of  knowledge  both  secular  and 
sacred. 

It  must  be  clearly  understood  that  in  this  revival 
movement  there  was  no  disloyalty  to  the  Catholic 
faith.  Christian  worship  was  never  more  reverently 
attended  to,  the  Virgin  never  more  affectionately 
invoked,  while  miracles,  relics,  pilgrimages,  and  the 
things  generally  against  which  the  Lutheran  Reforma- 
tion set  its  face  were  never  more  assiduously  believed 
in.  It  was  a  reforming  movement  from  within, 
instigated  by  earnest  devotional  spirits  who  wished 
the  Church  to  return  to  its  first  love.  The  pale-faced, 
gentle  neophyte,  who  in  the  historic  picture  is 
represented  standing  in  the  monastery  stall  with 
coarse,  red-faced,  sensual,  spitting  monks  beside  and 
opposite  him,  represents  very  faithfully  the  attitude 
and  position  of  these  spiritually  -  minded  men  who 
sighed  after  heaven  and  God.  What  must  they  have 
thought  and  felt  towards  the  unspiritual  wire-pullers 
who  in  Rome  and  Germany  were  managing  the  house- 
hold of  faith  ?  The  news  of  papal  corruptions,  of 
course,  reached  their  ears,  and  cooled  their  ardour  in 
giving  and  their  loyalty  in  defending  the  institution ; 
but  still  the  spirit  of  opposition  tarried  in  making  its 
appearance.  Even  Indulgences  were  accepted  by  them, 
until,  seeing  the  gross  abuse  of  this  form  of  spiritual 


RESULTS  OF  WYCLIFFE'S  TEACHING    319 

shopkeeping,  John  of  Wesel,  a  theological  teacher  in 
the  University  of  Erfurt,  attacked  the  practice,  only 
to  be  silenced  by  an  ominous  threat  from  the  hierarchy. 
Another  John  Wessel  of  Groningen,  trained  by  the 
Common  Life  Brethren,  preached  and  taught  what  was 
on  one  side  practically  Wycliffism  in  the  matter  of 
being  guided  solely  by  the  Bible,  and  Lutheranism  in 
the  matter  of  justification  by  faith  in  Christ  alone. 
In  addition,  he  wished  a  return, — one  of  the  foundation 
ideas  of  the  system  in  which  he  had  been  trained,  to 
the  primitive  life  of  the  early  Christians.  A  beautiful 
and  simple  life  like  his  disarmed  all  opposition,  and 
he  neither  attacked  the  Church  nor  suffered  for  his 
opinions.  In  addition,  the  Bohemian  brethren  were 
leavening  Germany  with  their  principles  and  ideas, — 
some  of  them  as  to  Church  and  State  being  revolu- 
tionary and  extreme,  but  the  national  antagonism 
between  Germany  and  Bohemia  prevented  any  general 
acceptance  of  their  ultra-reforming  notions.  The 
spirit  of  the  reforming  portion  of  the  German  people 
not  revolutionary :  only  reforms  of  gross  abuses 
were  called  for,  and  the  study  of  Scripture,  the 
Renaissance  spirit,  the  thirst  of  the  land  for  a  spiritual 
Church  and  for  spiritual  Churchmen,  brought  about 
rations  which  gradually  deepened  into  criticisms 
of  the  existing  state  of  affairs,  and  finally  culminated 
in  the  German  Reformation,  led  by  a  homely  Teuton,  a 
miner's  son,  who  gathered  up  the  feelings  of  his  country, 
and  so  spoke  them  and  acted  them  that  finally  he 
shook  the  world. 

In  England  practically  the  same  movement  took  the 

form  of  development    The  Humanist  movement 

led  a  number  of  earnest  Churchmen  like  John  Colet, 


320    WYCLJFFE  AND  THE  LOLLARDS 

Dean  of  St.  Paul's,  whose  disciple  Erasmus  was,  to 
live  more  earnest  Christian  lives  after  Bible  patterns. 
The  spirit  of  Wycliffe  was  mingled  with  the  spirit  of 
the  Renaissance.  But,  as  in  Germany,  in  course  of 
development,  aspiration  became  criticism,  and  criticism 
led  to  opposition,  and  opposition  to  revolution  and 
reformation.  The  English  Reformation  was  a  mixed 
movement,  partly  the  culminating  of  the  old  Wycliffe 
influences,  partly  the  result  of  Henry's  rupture  with 
the  Pope,  but  chiefly  through  the  infusion  of  the 
German  reforming  spirit,  with  the  little  monk  of 
Erfurt  at  its  head. 

Reforming  Churchmen  all  over  Europe  still  hoped 
for  another  general  council,  which  would  continue  the 
work  of  the  Council  of  Basle,  and  at  last,  after  many 
hopes  deferred  and  struggles  protracted,  Pope  Julius  II., 
the  successor  of  Alexander  II.,  so  exasperated  his 
cardinals  that  they  summoned  the  famous  Council  of 
Pisa,  held  in  the  cathedral  of  the  leaning  tower  and 
Galileo's  swinging  lamp.  Both  of  these  objects  were 
typical  of  the  state  of  mind  of  these  cardinals,  for 
uncertainty  was  in  the  air  as  to  everything.  This 
council  (1511)  was  afterwards  moved  to  Milan.  In 
counterblast  to  these  councils,  Pope  Julius  summoned 
a  council  in  1512  in  the  Lateran  Palace ;  the  cardinals 
suspended  the  Vicar  of  Christ  for  not  obeying  their 
orders  to  appear  at  Milan,  to  which  the  Pope  replied 
by  declaring  their  council  void  and  themselves  guilty 
of  schism.  Partly  owing  to  the  state  of  Italy  and  to 
the  fact  that  the  council  which  had  a  Pope  at  its  head 
was  more  acceptable  than  a  rabble  of  rebellious 
cardinals,  Julius  triumphed,  though  he  died  before  his 
council  finished.    Leo  x.,  who  succeeded  him,  continued 


RESULTS  OF  WYCLIFFE'S  TEACHING    321 

his  predecessor's  policy,  and  reassembled  the  Lateran 
Council,  the  cardinals  moved  their  council  from  Milan 
to  Lyons,  and  finally  submitted,  uniting  in  the  Lateran 
Council  with  their  head  in  the  great  work  of  restoring 
the  faith  and  practice  of  the  Church.  The  spread  of 
Humanism  must  have  been  enormous,  when  the  council 
found  it  necessary  to  pronounce  a  decree  declaring  the 
immortality  and  individuality  of  the  soul,  and  for- 
bidding the  clergy  to  spend  more  than  five  years  in 
secular  studies, — evidently  the  newly  discovered  Greek 
works  set  free  by  the  fall  of  Constantinople,  which 
were  changing  the  intellectual  and  moral  temper  of 
Europe,  and  even  leavening  the  Church  and  the  Holy 
See  itself, — unless  theology  and  canon  law  were  added 
to  these  studies.  The  council  then  discussed  the 
reform  of  the  Vatican  and  of  the  monastic  orders ;  but 
procrastination  was  the  predominant  spirit.  In  1515 
some  small  decrees  were  passed.  In  1516,  when  the 
council  re-assembled,  Pope  Leo  felt  strong  enough  in 
his  position  to  take  definite  action.  The  council 
warned  preachers  to  avoid  dangerous  and  scandalous 
topics,  annulled  the  Pragmatic  Sanction  which  gave 
the  Gallican  Church  special  liberties,  resulting  in  a 
practical  gain  to  Francis  L,   enlarged  the  powers  of 

>ps  and  priests,  and  dissolved  on  16th  March  1517. 

only  important  result  of  the  Lateran  Council  was 
that  the  French  Church  was  humiliated,  while  reforms, 
over  which  the  members  were  hopelessly  divided,  were 
practically  passed  by  on  the  other  side.  The  Courts 
of  Europe,  saving  France,  took  no  notice  of  a  council 
which  practically  showed  its  imbecility  and  power- 
lessness  to  act  in  the  eyes  of  the  world  so  marvellously, 
that  the  popular  feeling  over  a  large  portion  of 
21 


322     WYCLIFFE  AND  THE  LOLLARDS 

Christendom  was  that  if  the  Church  and  its  officers 
could  not  cleanse  the  Temple,  it  was  high  time  that 
someone  else  came  in  with  his  scourge,  not  of  small 
but  of  thick  cords,  to  drive  out  the  weaklings  who 
posed  as  the  Church's  heads.  That  someone  else 
came,  in  the  person  of  Martin  Luther,  who  threw  his 
ink-bottle  at  the  devil  and  his  theses  at  the  Pope. 
From  the  quiet  rectory  of  Lutterworth,  with  its  earnest 
seeker  after  truth,  to  the  church  door  of  Wiirtemberg, 
and  Luther  hammering  up  his  written  charges  against 
the  Pope,  is  a  far  cry ;  but  the  one  scene  is  the  parent 
of  the  other,  and  Wycliffe  was  in  the  largest  sense 
the  Morning  Star  of  the  Reformation. 


The  saintly,  simple,  and  well-beloved  Guiseppe  Sarto- 
Joseph  Taylor,  Patriarch  of  Venice,  was  crowned  Pope 
of  Rome,  Pius  x.,  in  August  1903.  The  venerable  Leo 
xiii.  on  his  deathbed  was  encouraged  as  he  passed 
through  the  valley  of  the  shadow  by  his  cardinals' 
assurance — "  Our  prayers  will  help  you  "  ;  to  which  he 
whispered  in  reply,  "  I  am  going  to  eternity."  Sarto's 
election  was  a  compromise ;  and  when  he  heard  the  news 
he  fainted,  and  little  wonder,  at  the  thought  of  the 
awful  responsibilities  laid  upon  one  frail  human  being. 
He  went  forth  from  the  city  of  St.  Mark,  with  its  canals, 
amid  the  tears  and  laments  of  everybody.  He  often 
pawned  his  episcopal  ring  to  raise  money  for  the 
destitute ;  and  when  he  was  elected  Sovereign  Pontiff 
the  fish-seal  was  out.  All  Venice  followed  him  out 
in  sorrowful  farewell.     I  was  present  at  his  coronation 


RESULTS  OF  WYCLIFFE'S  TEACHING    323 

in  St.  Peter's.  The  vanishing  nature  of  all  earthly- 
crowns  was  illustrated  to  him,  as  of  old,  by  the  melting 
of  a  waxen  toy  edifice  in  a  golden  bowl.  "  Sic  transit 
gloria  mundi."  On  the  day  following,  wandering 
through  the  endless  and  glorious  arcades  and  galleries 
of  the  Vatican,  I  saw  a  little  crowd  gathered  round 
one  of  the  innumerable  glass  cases  in  these  miles  of 
treasure-halls.  An  aged,  gentle,  saintly-looking  divine 
in  black  cassock  and  bands,  with  his  comely  youthful 
cha plain  beside  him,  was  on  the  outside  fringe.  It 
turned  out  that  he  was  a  canon  of  Rouen  Cathedral, 
down  for  the  coronation.  I  asked  him  respectfully 
what  was  the  object  of  interest,  to  which  query  he 
courteously  replied :  "  It  is  the  Codex  Vaticanus — Codex 
B  " ;  and,  turning  again  round  to  me,  added — "  It  is 
the  greatest  treasure  of  the  Vatican,  and  the  most 
precious  thing  in  the  world."  I  was  glad  to  hear  him 
say  so, — that  the  Holy  Scripture  was  the  greatest  thing 
in  the  world.  It  was  exactly  what  John  Wycliffe  said 
five  and  a  half  centuries  before.  It  is  what  the  Roman 
rch  will  yet  come  to  see,  and  is  coming  to  see  every 
day,  in  spite  of  trammelling  superstition  and  deadening 
mechanical  ism.  It  is  what  the  world  will  yet  see,  for 
Dean  Stanley's  favourite  text  carved  round  his  monu- 
ment in  Westminster  Abbey  sums  the  whole  matter 
up — "  I  have  seen  an  end  of  all  perfection,  but  Thy 
commandment  is  exceeding  broad." 


324     WYCLIFFE  AND  THE  LOLLARDS 


NOTE  TO  PAGE  147 

Sir  E.  M.  Thompson,  director  and  librarian  of  the  British 
Museum,  in  his  little  volume  prepared  for  the  Exhibition  of 
Wycliffe  MSS.  and  relics  in  1884,  has  enumerated  the  MSS.,  and 
commented  on  them  with  great  fulness,  as  also  the  pre-Wycliffite 
translations  of  the  Bible  and  service-books  in  English.  These 
latter  he  summarises  as  follows  : — 

1.  The   "  Lindisfarue  Gospels"  or   "Durham    Book,"    written    about 

709  A.D.  by  Eadfrith,  Bishop  of  Lindisfarue,  in  honour  of  his  pre- 
decessor S.  Cuthbert.  It  is  a  magnificently  illuminated  volume, 
containing  the  Vulgate  Gospels,  with  interlinear  translations  and 
glorious  illuminations,  and  is  now  one  of  the  treasures  of  the 
British  Museum. 

2.  The  Four  Gospels  in  Anglo-Saxon — ix  century. 

3.  The  Four  Gospels  in  Anglo-Saxon — xii  century. 

4.  Pentateuch  and  Joshua  in  Anglo-Saxon,  by  Alfric,  Archbishop  of 

Canterbury  (1006). 

5.  Psalter  and  canticles,  prayers  and  hymns— 700  A.D. 

6.  Psalter  with  canticles,  creeds,  etc. — x  century. 

7.  Psalter  with  canticles,  creeds  and  hymns — xi  century. 

8.  Psalter — metrical  translation  in  northern  dialect — xiv  century. 

9.  Psalter — metrical  translation — xiv  century. 

10.  Psalter — metrical  translation— xiv  century. 

11.  Psalter  in  Latin  and  English — xiv  century. 

12.  Psalter  in  Latin  and  English,  with  English  commentary— xiv  century. 

13.  Psalter  in  Latin  and  English,  with  English  commentary  by  Richard 

Rolle— 1400  A.D. 

14.  Ditto,  revised  by  a  Lollard,  1450. 

15.  Treatise  in  dialogue  form  between  two  people  embodying  Bible  his- 

tory—c.  1390. 

16.  The  Lay  Folks'  Mass-book  in  English,  with  devotions  for  the  people— 

1170-5. 

17.  Prymer  or  prayer-book,  containing  psalms  and  prayers— c.  1420. 

18.  Ditto,  revised,  with  a  calendar.     Opposite  May  21,  1382,  is  the  entry, 

"  Here  was  the  earthquake," — the  event  which  made  Wycliffe's 
11  Earthquake  Synod  "  famous. 

The  learned  and  courteous  chief-librarian  of  the  British  Museum 
has  kindly  allowed  me  to  make  these  extracts  from  his  valuable 
book,  besides  personally  showing  me  the  more  valuable  MSS.  in 
the  Museum  under  his  care. 


NOTES  325 


NOTE  TO  PAGE  264 


The  Rev.  Professor  Cooper,  D.D.,  Glasgow  University,  kindly- 
gives  the  following  note  : 

"  The  only  Wickliffite  MS.  we  have  in  the  Hunterian  is  a  MS. 
copy  of  his  Bible  in  the  original  boards  :  a  small  thick  quarto.  It 
presents  no  peculiarity,  and  its  provenance  is  not  known  :  it  came 
to  us  as  part  of  Dr.  William  Hunter's  collection.  Still  it  is  inter- 
esting that  a  copy  of  the  work  remains  in  the  city  where  the 
Lollards  of  Kyle  so  narrowly  escaped— it  is  said  by  one  Scottish 
king's  graciousness — the  fate  which  so  many  of  their  brethren 
underwent  at  the  hands  of  the  cruel— if  glorious— Plantagenets. 
Henry  v.  was  one  of  their  bitterest  persecutors. 

"  The  Stuarts  had  their  faults  ;  and  one  would  not  like  to  have 
been  obliged  to  trust  the  tender  mercies  of  Charles  11.  and 
James  vn. ;  and  even  James  1.,  our  poet-king,  brought  cruel 
notions  of  severity  from  his  English  prison.  But  naturally  the 
Stuarts  were  gentle." 


92 


INDEX 


Abelard,  7. 
Alfred,  43. 
JErius,  3. 
Agnes'  Eve,  75. 
Agobard,  3. 
Albigenses,  10. 
Alderson,  145. 
Alexander  n.,  123. 
Alfred,  151. 
Ambrose,  82. 
Anne  of  Bohemia,  283. 
Anselm,  7. 
Arundel,  163,  206. 
Aston,  John,  201. 
Athanasius,  104. 
Avignon,  74,  105,  121. 

Babylonish  Captivity,  74. 

Ball,  John,  135. 

Balliol  College,  60,  66. 

Barnard  Castle,  35. 

Beaton,  Cardinal,  270. 

Bede,  151. 

Beghards,  15. 

Beguines, 

Bernard  of  Clugny,  65. 

Black  Friars,  121. 

Bohemian  Brethren,  308,  319. 

I  in.,  71. 
Bracton,  2'.k 


Bradwardine,  31. 
Bruges,  74,  97. 
Burscher,  Archbishop,  229. 
Bute,  Marquis  of,  191. 

Csedmon,  59,  148. 

Caitiff,  Poor,  141. 

Canossa,  82. 

Canterbury  Convocation,  101. 

Chichely,  223. 

Claude  of  Turin,  5. 

Clement  v.,  74. 

Clement  vn.,  112,  156. 

Cobham,  Lord,  216. 

Colet,  Dean,  237. 

Columba,  36. 

Constance,  Council  of,  225,  291. 

Courtenay,  102,  137. 

Craig,  John,  188. 

Culdees,  37,  253. 

Cuthbert,  44. 

Dante,  313. 
Dominic,  116. 
Dominicans,  17. 
Durham  MS.,  147. 

K .11  thquake  Council,  138. 
Bokhart,  816, 
Egglestoue,  58. 


Ml 


328 


INDEX 


Fitzralph,  30. 
Forshall,  151. 
Fox,  251. 
Francis,  114. 
Franciscans,  17,  113. 
Friars,  113,  128. 

Gaunt,  John  of,  103. 
Gospel  Oaks,  133. 
Gregory  xi.,  111. 
Grossetete,  25. 

Henry  viii.,  247. 

Hereford,  Nicholas,  141,  159. 

Heretics,  80. 

Hughes,  William,  184,  195. 

Humanists,  319. 

Hunne,  Richard,  239. 

Huss,  John,  290. 

Indulgences,  253. 
Innocent  in.,  86. 
Inquisition,  312. 
Isidorian  Decretals,  76. 
Islip,  Simon,  66. 

James  I.,  214. 
Jerome,  155. 
Jerome  of  Prague,  298. 
JohD,  King,  24,  71,  90. 
John  of  Gaunt,  93. 
Jovinian,  4. 

Kennedy,  275. 
Knighton,  164. 
Knox,  259. 
Kyle  Lollards,  262. 

Lambeth,  109. 
Lancaster,  Duke  of,  101. 
Lasserre,  Henri,  178. 
Lincoln  College,  225. 


Lindisfanie,  147. 
Lindsay,  Sir  David,  48,  174. 
Lollards,  132,  199. 
Luther,  135,  322. 
Lutterworth,  99,  157. 

Manning,  34,  87. 
Marsiglio,  22. 
Martin  v.,  307. 
Merton,  62. 
Miracle  Plays,  166. 
Moors,  312. 
"Mysteries,"  170. 
Mystics,  316. 

Neville,  Archbishop,  230. 

Nicholas  in.,  19. 

Nicholas  v.,  310. 

Nisbet's  Scots  Testament,  265. 

Oaths,  79. 
Observants,  20. 
Ockhani,  William  of,  21. 
Offices  of  State,  94. 
Olivi,  20. 
Oxford,  108,  212. 

Parker,  John,  203. 
Parliament,  "Good,"  100. 
Pecock,  Bishop,  228. 
Percy,  Lord,  103. 
Peter's  Pence,  100. 
Philip  the  Fair,  72. 
Piers  Plowman,  32,  122. 
Pisa,  302. 
Pius  ix.,  88. 

"  Poor  Preachers,"  166,  200. 
Pope's  Curse,  84. 
Popes  of  Rome,  77. 
Praemunire,  96,  231. 
Prague,  285. 
|  Purvey,  John,  143. 


INDEX 


329 


Quintin,  Kennedy,  263. 

Radbert,  7. 
Ratramnus,  7. 
Resby,  John,  210. 
Richard  11.,  106. 
Richard  of  Armagh,  30. 
Russel,  275. 
Ruth  well  Cross,  149. 

Sarto,  Guiseppe,  322. 
Savonarola,  314. 
Sawtree,  William,  208. 
Shepherd's  Calendar,  246. 
Spresswell,  56. 
Stanley,  Dean,  187,  323. 
Stevenson,  Father,  177,  194. 
Sudbury,  Archbishop,  111. 
Sum  of  Theology,  141. 
Swift,  144. 

Thorpe,  William,  210. 
Trialogus,  134. 
Tunstall,  249. 


Tyball,  250. 
Tyler,  Wat,  135. 

Urban  vi.,  112. 

Vaticanus,  Codex,  323. 
Vigilantius,  4. 
Vulgate,  142. 

Walden,  184. 
Waldenses,  9. 
Wenceslaus,  283. 
Wicket,  137. 
Wishart,  278. 
Wycliffe  Bible  MSS.,  160. 
Wye,  300. 
Wykeham,  95. 

Xavier,  311. 
Ximenes,  312. 

Young  Movements,  2. 

2i2ka,  John,  308. 


Printed  by 

Morrison  &  Gibb  Limitbd 

Edinburgh 


In  neat  Crown  8vo  Volumes,  THREE  SHILLINGS  each. 

THE 

WORLD'S 
EPOCH-MAKERS. 

EDITED   BY 

OLIPHANT  SMEATON,   M.A. 
'An  excellent  Series  of  Biographical  Studies.  '—Athenaeum. 
'  We  advise  our  readers  to  keep  a  watch  on  this  most  able  series. 
It  promises  to  be  a  distinct  success.     The  volumes  before  us  are  the 
most  satisfactory  boohs  of  the  sort  we  have  ever  read.'— 

Methodist  Times. 

CRANMER  AND  THE   ENGLISH 
REFORMATION. 

By    A.    D.     INNES,    M.A. 

•  lrn  from  the  reading  of  the  ordinary  manuals  which  are  flooding  the  market 

!ust  now — disguised  under  an  ingenious  variety  of  captivating  titles,  but  obviously 
ntended  for  the  use  of  boys  and  girls  engaged  in  "  getting  up  their  period  "—and  to  find 
oneself  ir  the  hands  of  the  earnest  and  accomplished  author  of  this  notable  monograph, 
U  to  feel  lifted  into  a  higher  plane  of  thought  and  feeling.'— Alhenceum. 
'  If  we  praised  this  book  as  highly  as  we  thought,  we  should  be  deemed  "high-falutin." 
I  rw  the  author  has  managed  to  put  so  much  in  so  short  a  space  and  yet  never 
to  be  dull  or  jejune  we  cannot  understand.  .  .  .  The  whole  is  a  model  of  what  such  a 
book  should  be.  If  any  one  thinks  this  praise  too  high,  we  advise  them  to  read  it ; 
like  ourselves,  they  will  be  surprised.' — Cambridge  Review. 

WESLEY  AND  METHODISM. 

By   F.  J.  SNELL,   M.A. 

'>ook  deserves  praise  for  tlio  knowledge  it  shows  of  Wesley's  character  and 
writings,  and  also  for  its  style,  which  is  thoughtful  and  interesting.'—  Literature. 

•A  well-stiM  .f  the  system  of  belief  and  practice  which  grew  up  around 

the  figure  of  John  Wesley.  .  .  .  The  work  reckons  up  not  only  Wesley's  contribution 

*l  affairs,  but  his  influence  in  the  social  life  of  his  own  and  later  tfmnn    ...  It 

is  a  thoughtful  and  valuable  monograph,  which  should  be  read  with  sympathy  and 

profit  by  every  one  interested  in  its  subject.'— Scotsman. 

LUTHER    AND    THE    GERMAN 
REFORMATION. 

By  Principal  T.  M.  LINDSAY,  D.D. 

'■■peclally  is  there  room  for  so  able  and  Judicious  a  work  as  this.    The  story  of 

*  life  is  told  simply  and  well,  and  it  is,  above  all,  related  to  the  time  and  its 

blems.  .  .  .  We  think  that  students  of  the  life  of  Luther 

could  hardly  find  a  better  work  than  this.  ...  In  every  way  nn  admirable  work.'— 

:natt«*r  is  well  arranged,  and  the  narrative  is  admirably  told,  the  author's  style 
Mug  fresh,  clear,  and  vigorous.'— JUcord. 


The  World's  Epoch-Makers. 


BUDDHA  AND   BUDDHISM. 

By   ARTHUR    LILLIE. 

,',M.r*  .LiUie  ha9  succeeded  in  clearly  and  lucidly  mapping  out  the  main  broad  facts 
of  this  fascinating  religion.'— Oxford  Review. 

'  His  book  is  a  solid  performance,  showing  much  industry  and  scholarship  and  his 
presentation  of  Buddha  and  his  message  of  peace,  charity,  and  universal  benevolence 
is  both  discriminating  and  sympathetic,  and  deserves  hearty  welcome. '— Indian  Review. 

WILLIAM    HERSCHEL    AND    HIS 
WORK. 

By  JAMES    SIME,   MA,   F.R.S.E. 

'This  book  is  one  of  an  excellent  series  of  biographical  studies.  .  .  .  Probably  many 
will  share  our  first  impression  that  another  life  of  William  Herschel  was  scarcely 
needed ;  but  any  such  impression  is  likely  to  be  removed  by  a  perusal  of  the  work 
before  us.  .  .  .  All  students  of  astronomy  must  feel  an  abiding  interest  in  his  career 
and  most  of  them  will  find  much  fresh  information  respecting  it  in  the  work  before  us' 
in  which  the  story  of  his  life  is  told  with  great  freshness  and  vigour.'— Athenceum. 

Nothing  remains  but  to  praise  this  full  and  accurate  account  of  his  life  and  work 
We  have  no  work  in  the  country  which  supplies  what  this  volume  gives  in  full.'— 
Gnhcal  Review.  ° 

FRANCIS     AND     DOMINIC 

AND   THE   MENDICANT   ORDERS. 

By   Professor  JOHN    HERKLESS,   D.D. 

'A  scholarly  and  trustworthy  sketch  of  the  rise  and  progress  of  the  Spanish  and 

Italian  Orders.  .  .  .  This  volume  is  a  worthy  companion  to  Principal  Lindsay's  on 

'  ri?th??  "  '  and  this  is  surely  the  highest  praise  we  can  give  it.'— Sword  and  Trowel. 

Dr.  Herkless  gives  a  vivid  picture  of  the  progress  of  the  two  Orders,  Franciscans 

and  Dominicans,  and  also  an  even  more  striking  account  of  their  degradation.'— Saint 

Andrew. 

SAVONAROLA. 

By  Rev.  G.   M'HARDY,   D.D. 

'A  clear  and  plain  account  of  the  great  Italian  Reformer,  written  in  a  spirit  of 
discriminating  appreciation.'— Christian  World. 

'Dr.  M'Hardy  is  fair,  judicial,  and  yet  considerate;  his  pages  reveal  the  student, 
and  he  directs  the  reader  to  sources  which  will  enable  every  one  to  frame  a  verdict  on 
the  sentence.  ...  In  this  excellent  work  the  substance,  drift,  and  final  meaning  of 
this  heroic  yet  visionary  life  are  given.'— Bookman. 

ANSELM    AND   HIS   WORK. 

By  Rev.  A.  C.  WELCH,  B.D. 

'  Of  distinct  value  and  of  first-rate  interest.  .  .  .  There  is  not  another  book  in  our 
tongue  that  so  admirably  deals  with  a  great  man  who  left  a  deep  mark  both  in  the 
thought  and  policy  of  his  time.'— Methodist  Times. 

'An  admirable  sketch  quite  worthy  of  companionship  with  the  best  volumes  in  this 
series  of  "The  World's  Epoch-Makers."  It  is  learned,  fair,  sympathetic,  and  gives  a 
vivid  picture  of  the  great  statesman-divine.  ...  We  recommend  its  purchase  and 
study  to  all  who  would  learn  the  history  of  early  religion  in  England. '—Sword  and 
Trowel. 


The  World's  Epoch-Makers. 


MUHAMMAD    AND    HIS    POWER. 

By  P.  DE  LACY  JOHNSTONE,  M.A. 

•Every  page  of  his  brilliant,  confident  narrative  reveals  the  man  who  knows.'— 
Expository  Times. 

•Gives  in  a  moderate  compass  a  thoroughly  good  popular  account  of  Muhammad's 
career  and  influence.'— Guardian. 

ORIGEN    AND    GREEK    PATRISTIC 
THEOLOGY. 

By  Rev.  W.   FAIRWEATHER,   M.A. 

'A  very  interesting  and  scholarly  monograph.  The  treatment  is  singularly  com- 
plete. ...  Of  real  value.  It  is  lucid  in  style,  clear  in  its  arrangement,  and,  while 
written  by  a  sympathetic  hand,  gives  an  impression  of  perfect  fairness  of  mind  and 
trained  historical  sense.'— Guardian. 

THE   MEDICI   AND  THE    ITALIAN 
RENAISSANCE. 

By  OLIPHANT  SMEATON,  M.A. 

'Their  history  is  delightfully  set  forth  in  Mr.  Smeaton's  charming  pages,  which  give 
evidence  of  wide  and  careful  reading,  masterly  historical  analysis,  discriminating  judg- 
ment, and  sympathetic  handling.'— Aberdeen.  Journal. 

PLATO. 

By   Prof.  D.  G.  RITCHIE,  M.A.,  LL.D. 

'  Prof.  Ritchie  offers  an  admirable  epitome  of  the  phases  of  Plato's  doctrine  as  it 
gradually  developed  .  .  .  and  the  relation  of  Plato  to  his  contemporaries  is  set  forth 
very  persuasively. '—Pilot. 

PASCAL  AND  THE  PORT  ROYALISTS. 

By  Prof.  W.  CLARK,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  Toronto. 

•  ThU  ia  the  beat  book  we  know  for  anyone  who  wishes  to  study  a  great  man  and  an 
historic  controversy.'— London  Quarterly  Review. 

EUCLID:    His    Life   and    System. 

By  THOMAS  SMITH,  D.D.,  LL.D. 

'  A  book  of  fascinating  interest  to  many  who  would  never  dream  of  calling  them- 
selves mathematicians.'—  Westminster  Review. 

HEGEL     AND     HEGELIANISM. 

By  Prof.  R.  MACKINTOSH,  D.D., 

Lancashire  Independent  College,  Manchester. 

'As  an  introduction  to  Hegel,  no  more  trustworthy  guide  can  be  desired  than  that 
which  is  here  presented ;  and  one  cannot  rise  from  a  perusal  of  this  short  volume 
without  being  conscious  of  mental  stimulus  and  enrichment.'— Saint  Andrew. 


The  World's  Epoch-Makers. 


DAVID     HUME 

And  his  Influence  on   Philosophy  and  Theology. 

By  Prof.  J.  ORR,  M.A.,  D.D.,  Glasgow. 

'A  marvel  of  condensation,  of  clear  statement,  and  of  brilliant  criticism.  .  .  . 
Prof.  Orr's  volume  will  in  all  probability  prove  a  student's  book ;  its  wealth  of 
quotation,  its  clear,  succinct  statement,  its  masterly  criticism,  give  it  a  great  educative 
value.    Altogether  it  is  an  admirable  piece  of  work.'— Aberdeen  Journal. 

ROUSSEAU  AND   NATURALISM    IN 
LIFE   AND   THOUGHT. 

By  Prof.  W.  H.  HUDSON,  M.A. 

'  Prof.  Hudson  has  skilfully  done  the  difficult  work  of  writing  a  short  account 
of  Rousseau.  His  book  is  well  proportioned,  clear,  and  eminently  readable.  He  does 
full  justice  to  the  literary  power  of  his  subject,  and  he  expounds  his  chief  doctrines — 
political,  educational,  and  religious— with  admirable  clearness  and  conciseness.'— 
Manchester  Guardian. 

DESCARTES,    SPINOZA,    AND    THE 
NEW    PHILOSOPHY. 

By  Principal  IVERACH,  D.D.,  Aberdeen. 

'  As  a  short  study  of  the  philosophies  of  Descartes  and  Spinoza  the  book  is  excellent. 
The  author  brings  out  clearly  the  fundamental  conceptions  of  e&ch.'— Dundee  Advertiser. 

SOCRATES. 

By  Rev.  J.  H.  FORBES,  M.A.,  Glasgow. 

JUST  PUBLISHED. 

WYCLIFFE   AND   THE   LOLLARDS. 

By  Rev.  J.  C.  CARRICK,  B.D. 


The  following  Volumes  have  also  been  arranged  for : — 

Marcus  Aurelius  and  the  Later  i  Lessing  and  the  New  Humanism. 

Stoics.  ByF.W.  Bussell,  D.D.,  I  By  Rev.  A.  P.  Davidson,  M.A. 

Vice- Principal  of  Brasenose  Col-  Kant  and  his  Philosophical  Re- 

lege,  Oxford.            [In  the  Press.   ■  yolution.     By  Professor  R.  M. 

Augustine   and  Latin  Patristic  j  Wenley,  D.Sc,  Ph.D.,  Univer- 

Theology.    By  Professor  B.  B.   !  sity  of  Michigan. 

Warfield,  D.D.,  Princeton.  Schleiermacher  and    the  Reju- 

Scotus  Erigena  and  his  Epoch.  !  Yenescence  of  Theology.    By 

By  Professor  R.  Latta,  Ph.D.,   j  Professor  A.  Martin,  D.D.,  New 
D.Sc,  University  of  Aberdeen. 

The  Two  Bacons  and  Experi- 
mental Science.  By  Rev.  W. 
J.  Coui'Eit,  M.A. 


College,  Edinburgh. 
Newman  and  his  Influence.    By 
C.  Sarolea,  Ph.D.,   Litt.Doc., 
University  of  Edinburgh. 


Published  Price,   THREE  SHILLINGS  per  Volume. 


Kdinburgh  :  T.  &  T.  CLARK,  38  George  Street. 

LONDON:   SIMPKIN,  MARSHALL,  HAMILTON,  KENT,  &  CO.  LIMITED. 


T.  and  T.  Clark's  Publications. 


80METHING  ENTIRELY  NEW.     NEYER  ATTEMPTED  BEFORE. 

*A  triumphant  and  unqualified  success.  Indispensable  to  ministers  and 
Bible  students.  '—Dr.  W.  Robertson  Nicoll. 

COMPLETE,    IN    TWO   VOLUMES, 

A  Dictionary  of  Christ 
and  the  Gospels. 

Edited   by  J.    HASTINGS,    D.D. 

Price  per  Vol.,  in  cloth  binding,  21s.  net ; 
in  half-morocco,  gilt  top,  26s.  net. 

The  purpose  of  this  Dictionary  is  to  give  an  account  of  everything  that 
relates  to  Christ — His  Person,  Life,  Work,  and  Teaching. 

It  is  first  of  all  a  preacher's  Dictionary.  Its  authors  are  scholars  as 
well  as  preachers. 

The  articles  are  all  new.  Even  when  their  titles  are  the  same  as  the 
"f  articles  in  the  'Dictionary  of  the  Bible,'  they  are  written  by 
new  men,  and  with  a  new  purpose. 

The  articles  are  not  limited  even  to  the  Bible,  but  gather  together 
whatever  touches  Christ  in  all  the  history  and  experience  of  the 
Church. 

It  is  called  a  Dictionary  of  Christ  and  the  Gospels,  because  it 
let  everything  that  the  Gospels  contain,  whether  directly  related 
to  Christ  or  not.  Its  range,  however,  is  far  greater  than  that  of  the 
Gospels.  It  seeks  to  cover  all  that  relates  to  Christ  throughout  the 
Bible  and  in  the  life  and  literature  of  the  world.  There  are  articles 
Patristic  estimate  of  Jesus,  the  Mediaeval  estimate,  the  Reforma- 
tion and  Modern  estimates.  There  are  articles  on  Christ  in  the  Jewish 
writings  and  in  the  Muslim  literature.  Much  attention  has  been  given 
to  modern  thought,  whether  Christian  or  anti-Christian.  Every  aspect 
i  so  far  as  it  touches  or  is  touched  by  Christ,  is  described 
under  its  proper  I 

It  will  be  found  that  the  contents  of  the  Gospels,  especially  their 
spiritual  contents,  have  never  before  been  so  thoroughly  investigated 
and  set  forth. 

Full  Prospectus  icill  be  sent  post  free  on  application  to  the  Puhlishcrs. 


T.  and  T.  Clark's  Publications. 


Second  Edition.    Post  8vo,  price  4s.  6d.  net. 

FAITH    AND    KNOWLEDGE. 

SERMONS. 
By  Rev.  W.  R.  INGE,  D.D. 

Oxford. 
1  The  volume  is  one  which  is  likely  to  be  especially  helpful  to  preachers,  as  giving 
them  fresh  materials  for  thought.'— Guardian. 


Post  8vo,  price  4s.  6d.  net. 

CHRISTUS    IN    ECCLESIA. 

SERMONS. 
By  Rev.  HASTINGS  RASHDALL,  D.C.L., 

Oxford. 
A  book  which  should  prove  very  useful  to  the  enquiring  student.'— Oxford  Review. 


Post  8vo,  price  4s.  6d.  net. 

BREAD  AND  SALT  FROM  THE  WORD 
OF  QOD. 

IN    SIXTEEN    SERMONS. 
By  THEODOR  ZAHN,  D.D.,  Hon.  D.Litt.,  Cambridge, 

Professor  of  Theology  in  the  University,  Erlangen. 
'One  of  the  most  inspiring  and  illuminative  books  we  have  read  for  many  a  day.   The 
style  is  simple,  but  the  themes  are  great.'— Daily  News. 


Post  8vo,  price  4s.  6d.  net. 

THE   EYE  FOR  SPIRITUAL  THINGS, 

AND    OTHER    SERMONS. 
By  HENRY  MELVILL  GWATKIN,  M.A.,  D.D., 

sssor  of  Ecclesiastical  History,  ai 
Emmanuel  College,  Cambridge. 


Dixie  Professor  of  Ecclesiastical  History,  and  Fellow  of 

■idg 


Just  Published.    Post  8vo,  price  4s.  6d.  net. 

JESUS   CHRIST   THE    SON   OF   QOD. 

SERMONS     AND     INTERPRETATIONS. 
By  W.  M.  MACGREGOR,  D.D., 

Edinburgh. 
1 A  volume  which  strikes  a  distinct  note  of  its  own,  and  contains  some  of  the  freshest 
strongest,  and  most  human  work  which  one  has  met  with  for  many  a  day  in  the  pulpit 
literature  of  Scotland.'— Edinburgh  Evening  Newt. 


T.  and  T.  Clark's  Publications. 


A  Grammar  of  New  Testament  Greek. 

By  JAMES  HOPE  MOULTON,  D.D., 

Didsbury  College. 

Part  I.  THE  PROLEGOMENA.        Second  Edition  now  ready. 

Demy  8vo,  8  s.  net. 

Note.— Dr.  Moulton  has  spent  much  labour  upon  this  New  Edition.  It 
has  been  thoroughly  revised,  and  contains  a  large  amount  of  important  addi- 
tional matter. 

No  other  grammar  takes  adequate  account  of  those  wonderful  discoveries  of  Greek 
papyri,  which  within  the  last  few  years  have  altered  the  entire  basis  of  the  study  of 
New  Testament  Greek. 

'This  l)ook  is  indispensable,  really  a  first  requisite  to  the  understanding  of 
the  New  Testament  Greek.  We  do  not  see  how  it  could  have  been  better 
done,  and  it  will  unquestionably  take  its  place  as  the  standard  grammar  of 
New  Testament  Greek.'— Professor  Marcus  Dods,  D.D. 


Concordance  to  the  Greek  Testament. 

MOULTON-GEDEN. 
A  CONCORDANCE  TO  THE  GREEK  TESTAMENT:  According 

to  the  Texts  of  "Westcott  and  Hort,  Tischendorf,  and  the  English 
Revisers.  Edited  by  W.  F.  Moulton,  D.D.,  and  A.  S.  Geden,  M.A. 
In  Crown  4to  (pp.  1040).    Second  Edition,  Revised  throughout. 

Price  36s,  net ;  or  in  half- morocco,  price  31s.  6d.  net. 

•»*  It  will  be  generally  allowed  that  a  new  Concordance  to  the  Greek  Testament  is 
much  needed  In  the  Interests  of  sacred  scholarship.  This  work  adopts  a  new  principle, 
and  alms  at  providing  a  full  and  complete  Concordance  to  the  text  of  the  Greek 
Testament  as  It  is  set  forth  in  the  editions  of  Westcott  and  Hort,  Tischendorf  (8th), 
and  the  English  Revisers.  The  first- named  has  throughout  been  taken  as  the 
standard,  and  the  marginal  readings  have  been  Included.  Thus  the  student  with  any 
one  of  these  three  editions  In  his  hands  will  find  himself  in  possession  of  a  complete 
Concordance  to  the  actual  text  on  which  he  is  engaged.  While  the  method  employed, 
It  may  fairly  be  claimed,  precludes  the  omission  of  any  word  or  phrase  which,  by  even 
a  remote  probability,  might  be  regarded  as  forming  part  of  the  true  text  of  the  New 
Testament,  on  the  other  hand,  passages  disappear  as  to  the  spuriousness  of  which 
there  is  practical  unanimity  among  scholars. 

Professor  W.  8ANDA  Y,  D.D.,  U.D.,  Oxford,  writes :  '  There  can  be  no  question  as  to 
the  value  of  the  new  "Concordance."  It  Is  the  only  scientific  Concordance  to  the 
Greek  Testament,  and  the  only  one  that  can  be  safely  used  for  scientific  purposes.' 

'  It  would  be  difficult  to  overpraise  this  Invaluable  addition  to  biblical  study.  .  . 
For  all  English  students  of  the  Greek  Testament  this  great  work  is  Indispensable.  '— 
British  Wkcklt. 

Prospectus,  with  Specimen  Page,  free  on  application. 


T.  and  T.  Clark's  Publications. 


By  Principal  MARCUS  PODS,  P.P. 

Now  ready.     In  crown  8vo,  price  4s.  6d.  net. 

THE  BIBLE: 

ITS  ORIGIN   AND  NATURE. 

Contents  :  The  Bible  and  other  Sacred  Books  —  The  Canon — 
Revelation — Inspiration — Infallibility  of  Scripture— Trust- 
worthiness of  the  Gospels  —  Miraculous  Element  in  the 
Gospels. 

*  The  book  is  worthy  of  its  distinguished  author,  and  it  appears 
at  the  psychological  moment.  It  ought  to  be  widely  read.'— 
Christian  World. 


In  crown  8vo,  price  2s. 

THE   BOOK  OF  GENESIS. 

With  Introduction  and  Notes. 

'  Dr.  Dods  once  more  proves  himself  an  able  and  accomplished 
biblical  scholar ;  ...  his  Notes  are  the  fruit  of  wide  reading  and 
earnest  thought.  They  are  pithy,  scholarly,  and  suggestive — as 
weighty  as  they  are  brief.' — Baptist  Magazine. 

'Of  the  care  with  which  the  book  lias  been  done,  and  its 
thoroughness  in  every  point,  it  is  not  possible  to  speak  too  highly.' 
— Congregatio  nalist. 


In  crown  8vo,  price  as. 

THE  POST=EXILIAN  PROPHETS: 

HAGGAI,    ZECHARIAH,    MALACHI. 

1  When  the  Books  of  the  Old  Testament  are  treated  in  this  way 
there  is  some  hope  that  the  standard  of  popular  teaching  will  be 
sensibly  raised.  .  .  .  We  can  only  congratulate  the  rising  genera- 
tion in  having  guides  like  these.' — Literary  World. 


T.  and  T.  Clark's  Publications. 


WORKS  BY  THE  REY.  W.  L.  WALKER. 
Just  published.    Crown  8vo,  price  2s.  6d.  net. 

WHAT  ABOUT  THE  NEW  THEOLOGY? 

This  volume  is  an  estimate  of,  and  a  reply  to,  Rev.  R.  J.  Campbell's 
NEW  THEOLOGY  from  the  standpoint  of  liberal,  but  decided,  Evan- 
gelicalism. Few  scholars  are  more  competent  to  write  such  a  reply  than 
Mr.  Walker,  as  for  many  years  he  has  made  a  careful  study  of  the 
subjects  Mr.  Campbell  writes  upon,  and  he  has  no  difficulty  in  dealing 
convincingly  with  them. 

Third  Edition,  Revised  and  Reset.    8vo,  price  9s. 

THE  SPIRIT  AND  THE  INCARNATION. 

In  the  Light  of  Scripture,  Science,  and  Practical  Need. 

In  a  leading  article,  headed  'A  GREAT  BOOK'  in  the  British 
Weekly,  Prof.  Marcus  Dods  writes :  '  It  may  be  questioned  whether 
in  recent  years  there  has  appeared,  at  home  or  abroad,  any  theological 
work  more  deserving  of  careful  study.  He  who  intelligently  reads  it 
once  will  inevitably  read  it  again  and  again.' 


8vo,  price  9s. 

THE   CROSS   AND    THE    KINGDOM, 

As  Viewed  by  Christ  Himself  and  in  the  Light  of 
Evolution. 

'We  desire  to  speak  with  admiration  of  the  good  work  done  in  this 
book.  It  is  worthy  to  stand  beside  his  former  treatise.  Taking  both 
together,  they  form  a  magnificent  contribution  to  the  theological  litera- 
ture of  the  age.' — Principal  Iverach  in  the  Expository  Times. 


Second  Edition,    8vo,  price  9s. 

CHRISTIAN  THEISM  AND  A  SPIRITUAL 

MONISM. 

God,  Freedom,  and  Immortality,  in  View  of  Monistic 
Evolution. 

•A  valuable  contribution  to  Christian    thought  and  a  real  help  to 
ian  faith,  and  in  all  respects  a  work  worthy  of  the  author's  already 
nutation  among  theological  writers.' — Examiner. 


T.  and  T.  Clark's  Publications. 


Just  published.    Demy  8vo,  price  7s.  6d.  net. 

CHRISTIAN    THEOLOGY   IN   OUTLINE. 

By  Prof.  W.  ADAMS  BROWN,  Ph.D.,  D.D., 

Union  Theological  Seminary,  New  York. 

1  This  book  owes  its  origin  to  a  practical  purpose.  It  is  the  outgrowth  of 
the  author's  experience  as  a  teacher  of  theology,  and  is  the  attempt  to  meet  a 
definite  need  which  that  experience  disclosed,  —  that,  namely,  of  a  brief 
handbook,  at  once  scientific  and  constructive,  in  which  the  subject-matter  of 
Christian  theology  should  be  treated  from  the  modern  point  of  view,  and  the 
new  conceptions  affecting  Christian  thought  should  be  set  forth  in  their  inner 
consistency,  and  in  their  true  relation  to  their  antecedents  in  the  past.  .  .  . 
I  have  not  been  unmindful  of  the  wider  public  who  are  interested  in  theological 
questions.  Many  thoughtful  laymen  to-day  desire  to  know  how  the  great 
convictions,  which  form  the  subject-matter  of  the  Christian  faith,  appear  when 
regarded  from  the  modern,  that  is  to  say,  scientific,  point  of  view.  This 
question  the  book  attempts  to  answer.' — From  the  Author's  Preface. 


In  Demy  8vo,  price  6s.  net. 

THE     FOURTH     GOSPEL: 

Its  Purpose  and  Theology. 
By  the  Rev.  ERNEST  F.  SCOTT,  B.A.,  Prestwick. 

1  One  of  the  most  instructive  and  suggestive  studies  of  the  Fourth  Gospel 
that  has  appeared  in  later  New  Testament  criticism.  .  .  .  Written  from  a 
thorough  knowledge  both  of  the  sources  and  of  the  later  authorities  on  this 
subject.' — Christian  World. 

'The  most  elaborate  and  thoroughgoing  treatment  of  the  whole  theology 
of  the  Fourth  Gospel  that  has  yet  appeared  in  English.  He  has  put  the 
theological  world  under  a  debt  of  gratitude  to  him  for  supplying  the  best 
solution  of  the  problems  of  the  Fourth  Gospel.' — Glasgow  Herald. 


With  Map.    Post  8vo,  price  6s.  net. 

THE    GOSPEL    HISTORY    AND    ITS 
TRANSMISSION. 

By  F.  CRAWFORD  BURKITT,  M.A.,  D.D., 

Norrisian  Professor  of  Divinity  in  the  University  of  Cambridge. 

'We  have  read  Prof.  Burkitt's  Lectures  with  the  keenest  delight  and 
gratitude,  and  warmly  recommend  thenrto  all  who  are  faced  with  the  diffi- 
culties of  the  apparent  conflict  between  Faith  and  Knowledge.' — Standard. 

1  The  most  satisfactory  treatment  of  the  subject  in  English  ...  is  an 
unusually  full  book,  an  excellent  specimen  of  well-informed,  thoughtful,  and 
moderate  English  criticism.' — British  Weekly. 

' A  welcome  contribution  to  the  literature  whicli  has  grown  up  around  the 
New  Testament.'— Scotsman. 


RETURN  TO  the  circulation  desk  of  any 

University  of  California  Library 

or  to  the 

NORTHERN  REGIONAL  LIBRARY  FACILITY 
Bldg.  400,  Richmond  Field  Station 
University  of  California 
Richmond,  CA  94804-4698 


ALL  BOOKS  MAY  BE  RECALLED  AFTER  7  C 
2-month  loans  may  be  renewed  by  calling 

(510)642-6753 
1-year  loans  may  be  recharged  by  bringinq  b< 

toNRLF 
Renewals    and    recharges    may    be    made    4    < 

prior  to  due  date 


DUE  AS  STAMPED  BELOW 


JAN  2  0  1995 


120,000  (4/94) 


YB  30718 


GENERAL  LIBRARY  •  U.C.  BERKELEY 

nil 

Bootnaaacn 


